Max the Wonderdog

Tell me this doesn't touch your heart at Christmas!

Happy Christmas

It's officially Christmas - yesterday was my Skating recital and party! Both were a great time and a huge success. Big love to Dan for help in the kitchen and for moral support and for putting up with my grouchiness and near-breakdowns all week. Also, to Mom for being great as always. :-)

Things that make me happy this Christmas:

-Choose & cut Christmas trees.

-Getting to see just about everyone I want to see this holiday... from across the country and across the WORLD!!

-Making cookies.

-"It's a Wonderful Life" & "Holiday Inn".

-The fact that Jesse knows Roy Rogers' version of Jingle Bells and was singing along (sans yodeling) at the party.

-Zip and Cale... and Doug's forthcoming project.

-Doug and my Christmas "projects".

-CandyLane!!!

This is 21-Humor If I've Ever Seen It

The world's tallest man saved two dolphins by reaching into their stomachs and removing pieces of plastic that veterinarians couldn't reach with their surgical instruments, according to reports from China. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/12/worlds_tallest_.html

I Love Fat Christmas Trees!

My beautiful, fat Christmas tree decorated and ready for my big party this weekend! Boy do I ever love the fat trees.

If only my baking/cooking was as far along as my house decorating...

Sanitary Santa

I caught Santa in the act today doing a little neighborhood garbage cleanup in preparation for his big night next week... (It's hard to see, but he's actually hanging on to the side of the truck in the full outfit - including boots!)

The #1 Rule of Choosing a Christmas Tree

The #1 rule of choosing a Christmas tree: always overestimate its size - because 99% of the time, it will be way bigger once you get it inside... (I have been burned by this before... like the year that Doug and I chose such a fat tree that there was no room under or around the tree for gifts and we ended up just piling them all in the middle of the floor in front of it).

This past weekend, my parents invited Dan and I to go Christmas tree shopping with them at the choose-and-cut place near their house. We all walked through the field, scoping out the trees we like best. Dan is a choose-and-cut virgin, probably accounting for his impending misjudgement.

Originally, the two of us were going to buy smaller trees since we both live in apartments with limited space, but then the tree farm guy told us that all trees were the same price regardless of size. Dan's excited comment: "Well then, I'm going to buy the biggest tree I can fit into my apartment!"

"Now this is a beautiful tree!" he said, showing his selection to my mom and I a few minutes later. "This is it."

We started laughing when we saw it: "Dan, that tree is HUGE."

"No, it'll be fine. My living room is big and it has 12 ft. ceilings. It'll fit."

Let's put it this way.... it's a good thing he had it baled before we put it up or we may not have been able to get it through the door. It is probably the biggest personal Christmas tree I have ever seen. We were laughing because he had to break out the ladder to put the lights on the top of the tree. It is gorgeous, though.

I'll try to post some pics sometime soon so you guys can enjoy this gigantic beauty, too.

Um, Yeah...

Apparently this is a big problem at the Dollar General store in York. Notice the body sprays they're talking about are all Body Fantasy seconds from K-Mart...

Christmas Magic

When I was a kid, my mom and I started a little Christmas tradition for my grandma. Mom would take me shopping and would let me choose two lighted houses to buy for Grandma as Christmas gifts. I remember scrutinizing over the different choices, wanting to make the best possible choice by picking the ones she would like best. The Quilt Shop, Bakery, and Book Store were early picks, and I continued to round out the village over the next 6 or so years.

Grandma loved the village and kept it displayed year-round in her home. When she passed away 4 years ago, I inherited it.

Since this is the first year I've had my own home for Christmas, I tearfully broke out the village to display. The problem: 14 houses, each with separate cords - how and where would I display them? My solution: build a special custom shelf.

I designed a simple shelf that would tier the collection and hide all the cords and power strips at the same time. Then I went to Home Depot to have some boards cut (I know, how shop class of me) and put the shelf together.

Grandma would be proud - her village now shines on through my Christmas, and I suspect it will continue to shine as I have children and grandchildren of my own.