I got a tree.

It almost got the best of me after the stand it came with broke (actually the screw holding it to the stand broke, and I didn’t have a long enough screw to replace it with). It was an epic battle that was the demise of many a pine needle. But, thanks to a nail and some wire (yes, I tied my five foot tree to the wall), it now smells like Christmas in here.

It’s nice.

Oscar, who is generally the world’s least photogenic cat, participated in the photoshoot too.

I’ve never really liked the dress up people at the mall – the Santas and the Easter Bunnies and the whatever elses that kids get their pictures taken with. But, I love these from sketchysanta.com. It’s like awkward family photos Christmas edition.

wait for it...

Nice 'stache

it's all in the glasses

Hilarious.

Part 1:

When I was three or four years old my family (mom, dad, two teenage siblings) took a trip around the world. We traveled for a month and though I remember very little of the trip, the photos are amazing. The story goes that my parents, being thoughtful about traveling with three kids, made everyone essentially responsible for carrying their own luggage. My stuff was all kept in a kid-sized blue backpack that I’ve been told I dutifully toted around airports and through various countries. The last time I can remember actually seeing that backpack was in eighth grade and, as always, I was surprised at how small it was. It’s hard to fathom how I carried around a month’s worth of clothes (even size 4T) in it.

I tried to find a photo of me and my backpack but couldn’t. But, just for fun, here’s one of me at about that age (a little older?) looking crazy and one much younger:

They are grainy so it’s hard to tell just how amazing my mom’s perm is…

Part 2:

In college I acquired the grown up version of my blue backpack – this one much larger, but just as bright blue. I carried it all over Europe and across the country on countless trips. This summer, in the midst of many, many moves between houses I seem to have misplaced it. I know think that it was perhaps stolen one fateful day, but I’m not sure about that. Anyway, I’ve been making a list of the things that were in the backpack as I realize they are gone. So far I’ve missed:

• A hairdryer
• Two pairs of jeans
• Another pair of pants
• A thin blanket, the kind you add as an extra layer to your bed in winter
• A Camelback
• Soft fleece

The most depressing was the last one – a black super soft fleece that I literally lived in last winter. Then, hooray! A birthday and not only a replacement, but an upgrade with thumbholes and a strangely placed side zipper. Suffice it to say I haven’t worn anything else for three days. Loving it!

Part 3:

True story-I’m writing this post in said fleece when Oscar walks across my desk. As other pet owners are aware, animals tend to ‘express‘ themselves through indelicately placed (and smelly) glands. It would be just my luck that as Oscar strolls across the desk his rear end explodes with a few drops of the most heinous smelling stuff I’ve ever encountered…all over the new wonderful fleece. I very nearly vomited. The fleece is now soaking in the sink and will hopefully be returned to it’s former pristine and odor free condition.

Sometimes you go to the store and come away with more than you went in for. Often, like every time I go to Target, those are things I want, and therefore pay for. Other times, like at Food Lion, these are things I don’t want and thankfully don’t pay for.

First, there was this incident.

Yesterday I went to buy a few items and when unpacking my bag discovered a large box of Queen Anne Cordial Cherries.

Was it cordial cherry giveaway day or did I just get lucky? Either way, these are definitely not a favorite of mine, and I already know what Christmas party I’ll deposit them at.

Partygoers beware!

After 10 days of headaches, fevers and drinking my weight in hot tea and EmergenC, it turns out I have bronchitis. I’ve never had been diagnosed with it before and I don’t like it. My bronchia (or whatever) have become clogged sewer lines in need of drano. Or at least that’s what google images tells me:

I also had to wear a swine flu mask at urgent care. They are really hard to breathe in – your breath is all hot and, ugh, moist, when you breathe in. It made me feel bad for all those folks in China during SARS.