Well, my favorite time of year is upon me and I couldn’t be happier about it.
I love the anticipation, the fun, the way everything seems a little more doable this time of year.

And it helped that yesterday there were the most wonderful little snowflakes coming down.
Literally exploding into little snow bombs as they hit the road. I’d never seen snow do that. Either it leaves a wet spot upon hitting something or I don’t notice it at all.

Anyway, have you all made your Christmas lists? How hard are you to buy for?

I’m easy. I like anything as long as there’s some thought behind it. Though, I can hear my friends choking on their next breath as they read that.

For they know I have a gift list at Henne’s Jeweler’s in Shady Side. And while that’s true. The only stuff on it is way unaffordable.

All the affordable stuff has been bought for me already. Smile. Smile. Smile.

And that’s fine. I like the fact I can actually wear the jewelry I own all the time. If I have too much, it’ll all just sit there collecting dust waiting for my daughter’s first date or her prom. What fun is that?

I really don’t want anything this year.

My friend Nikki considers cars a gift. She became a Vice Principal this year, got a monsterous raise and her husband bought her a car as a gift.

“That is not a gift,” I exclaim.

“To me it is,” she says knowing I know she is on her 12th car since I met her thirteen years ago.

Something you need to have to run your daily affairs is not a gift. She could have the diamond necklace I can’t afford. The stud earrings…

But that’s the point. A gift is in the eye of the beholder. I love buying gifts for people. Nothing is more fun than seeing someone smile at something I picked for them. Nothing is worse than them hating my gifts. I take it as a personal failure when I get a lukewarm or negaive response to a gift.

And I’ve given crappy gifts. Not because I didn’t think hard about what to buy, but because it just wasn’t a good gift. Once I reupholstered an ottoman for my husband because we didn’t have a recliner to help him unwind from his long days.

Not only did my crafting wake him up late one night, he hated it. Everything about it. Sometimes you’re better off going with the registry, the list. Like mine.

Some men I know have actually gone into cardiac arrest when made aware I have a list at a store of things I want. But it works for Bill and I. He doesn’t have to think too hard and I get what I want. We’re both happy.

And as Nikki, knows, who the hell cares what anyone else thinks of your gift. It’s yours.

…yes I am.
According to Bill, my husband.
Not that he’s wrong.
But I chuckled at his comment that he’s tired of logging onto Housewifecafe and seeing nothing more than my word count for Nanowrimo.
Bragging about how much I’m writing just isn’t doing it for him.

Not creative enough.

“Why aren’t you doing something more interesting?” He says from the comfort of his Charleston WV hotel room. Okay, its WV, but still…quiet and calm are key amenities as far as my “grass is always greener on the go to work dad side of the fence,” point of view goes.

Hmmm…
Well. I say.

Could it be our two children? My part-time job for the University of Pittsburgh? The fact that I’m actually writing the stuff I’m bragging about? Hmmm…I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I’m sure you other moms out there could help me figure this brain bender out.

…is out in the open! I know I must sound like I’m secretly working for Victoria’s Secret, but I’m not.

I never would have guessed I’d have so much to say on the topic, but here’s another post on it…

I was watching the Today Show and they were talking about all the ways China is changing. Apparently the wealthiest citizens enjoy showing off their huge accumulation of money by driving large cars–no sports cars there.

They indulge in all things fabulous–that communicate, “I am rich and powerful.”

So, they asked why wasn’t Victoria’s Secret doing well, swathing wealthy Chinese women in glorious silky bras and fancy underpants????

Well, they said it goes back to showing off their wealth. If they can’t show it off, it isn’t worth buying. Apparently, Britney Spears and J. Lo. aren’t models for dress…yet. What do you give ’em? Ten years before everyone is half naked, bra straps out, belly button rings nestled in their stomachs?

…can’t type any more…running out of ennnnnerrrrrgyyyyy……

Okay, perhaps the reason I’m not as productive tonight is because I’m watching documentaries and reality TV (the faux documentary type)…but I had to say this…the guy who is one of Martha’s goons is so terribly annoying with his unlit cigar…

You mean to tell me, he can’t make it through shooting the boardroom stuff without sucking on it, fondling it, and basically looking like goofy.

Where’s his wife on this? He must be single. Or he simply never puts down the cigar and his wife thinks it’s actually an extra finger.

And Jim…how is this guy still married? He’s more obnoxious than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life…

And I know a lot of obnoxious people…who doesn’t, right.

But this guys wife just gave birth weeks ago. Can you imagine his wife? Exhausted, hormonal, and she’s watching her husband give jackasses a bad name on national TV. Is it possible this is an act and she’s laughing her ass off at his genius…

Dear Lord, let’s hope so. For the sake of the infant, please.

Busy day…less production on the nanowrimo front…

I just watched an amazing documentary about a middle school in Tennessee. The kids and their teachers–the whole town really created a project that resulted in a permanent memorial to Holocaust victims.

They collected paper clips to represent the 6 million Jews and 5 million homosexuals and other groups deemed unworthy of life during Hitler’s tenure.

People sent paper clips from all over the world representing people they knew or knew of who were killed. Some donations included stories and artifacts, and managed to convey an enormous amount of emotion through such tiny objects.

In the end they had collected twenty-five million paper clips and secured a cattle car straight from Germany (one that was used to transport many victims) to serve as the vessel that would contain the paperclips. It is a truly moving tribute…one that has life breathed into it each year as the students at the school conduct field trips for other students, teaching about the horrifying loss that came to be through intolerance, fear, and ignorance.

I am impressed.

Everyone has given such great bra advice that I feel I can cut my shopping time down by decades.

As I was blogging away, a fantastic commercial for Victoria’s Secret came on TV…All I could think was how much I look like the chick in her skivvies running toward the camera, breasts barely contained in the bra–looking so damn happy about it…As though they had hidden cameras in my bedroom and shot me bolting out of bed when Jake or Beth call in the middle of the night.

Seriously, the picture here is a phony. I look just like the chick on TV. I just don’t want you all stopping by the cafe for my looks alone.