6 more days, just 6 more days

Well, apparently, I went a little nuts whilst shopping. In an effort to make sure that everyone got a little something that they wanted in addition to the things they NEEDED (such as socks for the boys--what in the world do boys do that wears out their socks so quickly?!) I must have lost my head.

I'm on a first name basis with the FedEx and UPS drivers. Yes, it's that bad. They stop by my house a couple of times a day with packages of things that I had forgotten that I ordered. It's kind of fun, actually. "OH! I forgot about that!" My rule this year, since I shopped online, was that whatever I bought using a credit card had to be paid off in 2 months. Shockingly, so far, it will all be paid in one month.

The drivers are here so often that I almost feel bad not having them in for coffee. I mean, when my friends stop by once a week or so I have them in for coffee...what about these poor men (so far no women drivers, so I'm not being sexist here) who brave the cold to deliver underwear from Victoria's Secret for Fidget, socks from Wal-Mart for the boys, MP3 players, PJ pants, a video game, and the other miscellaneous items that fill the space below my tree? I think "Minnesota Nice" dictates that when someone is at your house almost more frequently than people who live there you have to have them in for bars or hotdish. But then I'm not really from here, so does that excuse me? Dear reader, you can see the quandary I'm in...

Ah, the tree. After 15 years of use, it's time to retire it after this season. Being the daughter of a fire chief, I was brought up fearing the extreme flammability of a real tree, so we've always had artificial. Being an allergy sufferer, I'm grateful for that. Our tree looks like a Charlie Brown reject. Couple that with the fact that we didn't even bother to put ornaments on it this year and it's quite a sight. 2 things of net lights and a lonely angel on the top. Why no ornaments? Well, it's like this: We have cats. And dogs. And every year they team up. The cats knock the ornaments off the tree, then the dogs chew them up. We thought about putting cat/dog treats on as ornaments, but after 15 years of faithful service to my family we just couldn't do that to the poor tree.

Brotherly love. It's fabulous this time of year. We left some cookies on the counter to cool off before putting away and the love was apparent. The cats batted them around, knocking many to the floor. The dogs gladly accepted the cats' gifts to them, and in turn left us little red and green presents of their own...on the rug in front of the oven.

What a grand season...Thank the heavens it only rolls around once a year.

Happy Holidays to all of you! And may your home be filled with love, laughter and lots and lots of spiked eggnog to deal with the love and laughter.