Jinglepup!

This afternoon was, in Kansas-in-December terms, gorgeous!  The temps were above freezing and the sun was shining.  Who could ask for anything more?  Biserka & I went for a walk this afternoon, and I thought sleighbells were in order.  Biserka doesn't run, she prances, so the sleighbells sounded like a miniature Clydesdale in 2/4 time. 

I am happy to say that the Least-Ugly Christmas Tree saga has come to an end.  Finally.  When we brought the pasture cedar into our house last weekend , it was indeed BIG, and UGLY, and just not right.  It became even less right after I trimmed one side of the branches off so that fit would fit flush with our church pew (and that pew is another story for another time).  Well, figure that one out, folks: if one trims one side of an ugly cedar Christmas tree, and not the other, then the tree is lopsided and prone to much tipping.  So after 2 tip-overs, I took some decorative Christmas ribbon (this is the part of the story where Daughter #2 began rolling her eyes during lunch today), and tied one end to a branch of the ugly cedar, and the other end of the decorative ribbon to our window latch.

But when I awoke this morning, I knew what had to be done.  The Boy and I are sharing a car during the holiday season since his is still out on the west coast.  I dropped him off at his place of seasonal employment, (a bike shop: he is a bike builder!), ran my holiday errands (more on that below), and returned to pick him up and drive to the nearest Christmas tree stand, where we purchased a dandy pine tree that neither looks nor smells like a pasture cedar.

There!!  I have broken with tradition, and not a YEAR TOO SOON! 

On the way home from Christmas shopping and such, The Boy and I spotted an oddity along the highway: there was a bat hanging upside down from the electrical line, in the midday sun!  Must study up on bats, because I can only think he was warming himself after 2 weeks of sub-freezing weather.  Poor bat: not many bugs out this time of year.

What else have I accomplished today?  Christmas cards mailed: check!  And probably for the first time in a decade.  Or two.  Our holiday card-sending has evolved, quite nicely, I must say, into New Year's letters, Valentine's letters, and one year, Spring-hath-Sprung letters.  But this year, I got the kids round the dining room table and we knocked out some pretty news-worthy holiday cards! 

And so now there is the delicious scent of roast beef and vegetables wafting from the kitchen, a proper Christmas tree, decorated and lit, in the living room, and the sounds of the Nutcracker being played throughout the house.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

More holiday - tomorrow!