The First Day of Christmas

I think our Christmas is looking suspiciously like Hannukah this year. It'll be lasting at least 8 days. Today was the beginning. Maybe I should light a candle or something.

This is not a Special Guest Tree. This is our actual tree. In that special way we get everything done (a piece at a time), we finally managed to get the tree up, decorated and photographed...before MelonKiwi embarked on his climb to the summit.

Actually, Melon (or Mr. Wi, as he is known around here) hasn't shown too much interest in the tree. The biggest obstacle to successful onamentation has been Sage's tail. Every time the UPS man pulls into the driveway, 20 ornaments end up on the floor.

BUT...it's been worth picking up a few dozen ornaments, because the UPS man brought us a package that Print and BJ sent that included...SPACE NOODLES! They're little pastas in the shape of the Space Needle. Sort of a regional gifty, since they're from Seattle. They also sent, among other things, a wrapped gift for the cats. So far that cats seem underwhelmed with the holiday festivities, but I'm sure they're just trying to impress us with their coolness. I feel like I ought to make some sort of PNW-ish soy-based macaroni dish with our pasta. Carrie...I need those hemp socks speedy quicko.

Katie had a little pre-Christmas Christmas. Since she'll be leaving for Tucson this week, Dane gave her his present early. Holy Cow! He's a good boyfriend! And then we hooked her up with a 30 GB iPod to keep her busy on her trip. She's busy cramming it with music and video as we speak.

Yes Carrie...it feels weird to be having Christmas without kids, but I'm glad you and Katie and Robbie will be spending time together, learning about each other's adult incarnations. I'm tremendously proud of all of you, and I like all of you so much that I'm excited that you'll get a chance to see each other the way I see you. You're lucky that these are the people you'll be spending the next 70 years associating with. :-)