By Kevin Siembieda

Happy New Year!

I hope your Christmas weekend was filled with laughter and pleasant surprises. My Christmas was small and quiet, but joyful and very pleasant with Kathy, friends and family. Between it and the Palladium Christmas party, I’m happy to say that I have much more music to inspire me while I write. I can’t listen to music with words while I write, so I have a wide range of movie scores on CD. Kathy and the crew added a good dozen for my listening enjoyment as well as a number of other thoughtful gifts.

I actually took all three days off. It was nice to take a long weekend after several months of relentless work and long hours. I mostly lazed around the house, spoke on the phone to loved ones, saw the movie Creed (I liked it) and enjoyed the company of the people around me. I still haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet. I plan to do so next week; I don’t want to fight the holiday crowds. I also got caught up on a bunch of TV shows with Kathy and Alex. I’m way behind on Doctor Who, so it was nice to catch 5 or 6 episodes. All in all, a very serene and pleasant holiday.

I was happy to hear from the gent who is using Palladium role-playing games in his school curriculum, as well as in an after-school gaming club. Apparently, the students are enjoying the games immensely and they are helping them with their studies on several fronts. I love that our games are being used to help kids unlock their imaginations and enjoy reading and exploring new ideas. I have always felt that learning should be fun — awesome! It sounds like the program and game club is expanding, so I sent another box of RPGs and supplements to keep them excited and motivated.

I was pretty good about staying on top of things this December, but the next thing I knew it was Christmas and the year’s end. I had a half dozen Christmas packages to send after Christmas (I just couldn’t wrap, pack and ship it all in time), and I still have a number of freelancer agreements and correspondences to send out. I’m working on it. I’m working on it. :)

By Kevin Siembieda

Happy Holidays to all of you. It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow and Christmas the next day, Kwanzaa Saturday, so no sales pitch or news update other than, as has become part of the Grab Bag tradition, we are extending the Christmas Surprise Package offer for a few weeks after Christmas.

Christmas Surprise Package Offer – EXTENDED to January 15, 2016

Why extend this amazing offer? Because it’s the nice thing to do. We realize many of you are so full of the Christmas Spirit that you spend your money on gifts for your loved ones rather than yourself. This wonderful act of charity often leaves no money for you to buy a Palladium Surprise Package for yourself. We think that sacrifice is pretty awesome and what the holiday season is all about, so we extend the offer so that you selfless souls can pick up a Surprise Package after the holidays. We know this happens, because a lot people over the years have thanked us for the extension for this very reason.

The extension is also for you Johnny Come-Latelies who are so caught up in the holiday frenzy, work and life that somehow you miss placing your order for the Christmas Surprise Package before the offer ends. It’s also for those of you who wish you had ordered one (or another one) but forgot. Lastly, it is our way to carry that holiday good cheer into the New Year. So get your post-holiday Surprise Package and enjoy. Please note that this offer will not be extended further. This is your last chance. Happy Holidays.