I Love the Smell of Dead Trees in the Living Room

We purchased our Christmas tree way too early. Got it on the 1st, I think, and well, its untouchable now. So dry at least one ornament tumbles to the carpet daily because the needles just aren't pliable anymore and as they crack and break, the ornaments are losing their grip.

Its a bonfire waiting to happen since all it would take is one wild ember to take flight from the fireplace and POOF! our pretty dead tree would be pretty no more.

What I've noticed most about the tree this year is that the "deader" (as if there are levels of "deadness") the tree got as indicated by the dry needles and inability to soak up anymore water, the more fragrant it got. Everytime I leave the house and come back inside, the tree is the first thing I smell and its so festive.

To all of you fake tree lovers out there - definitely worth the mess and hassle of a real tree. Come on over. I won't charge you to catch a whif of our lovely noble fir.

6 Going On 16

I mostly dressed Jake today, but it was the way he carried himself that really made me stop and watch him. He was so relaxed, hands in his pockets just chillin' and it was this attitude that got me thinking he looked more like 16 than 6.

Shout out!

Laura and I were shopping at the Allen Outlet Mall yesterday and I'd like to give a shout out to the extremely beautiful man at the Calvin Klein cashier station. He didn't handle my purchases, but OMG, I had to stop and stare at him through the window after I left in complete awe.

Beautiful beautiful man.

I Exist!

In my desperate attempt to provide visual documentation that I existed during the boys' childhood, I volunteered a couple of family members to shoot some impromptu pictures of me with the boys. Here are a couple of the "better ones".

The Best Christmas Present

I used to love Christmas. The smell of the tree (real of course), watching the same five holiday movies over and over again (typically National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, White Christmas, The Grinch, A Christmas Story - damn, that reminds me I haven't watched that one yet this year), the baking and decorating of the sugar cookies and who could forget the magic of opening present after present after present on Christmas morning?

Jason and I have tried to recreate my childhood traditions with the boys and have even added an additional tradition of our own, which is our annual horse drawn carriage ride to look at Christmas lights. The boys watch the same movies, help us pick out and decorate the tree and although the sugar cookie dough is rarely made from scratch, the process of decorating (and eating) them miraculously hasn't changed. The tradition of gorging the tree with presents for the Christmas morning greed fest continues this generation as well.

The problem we're having is the boys not only don't NEED anything, but they really haven't said they WANT anything. Ok, ok, Jake has mentioned a few things, but oddly enough the boys don't develop their Christmas lists from the 30 second breaks during their SpongeBob program. We really don't hear "I want that!" every time a small child on a sugar high is on the tv having the time of his life with the latest hideously colored turquoise or purple toy that is either loud, messy or claims to be educational.

So, I'm embarrassed to admit that Jason and I literally had a date at Toys R Us where we bought age appropriate crap we think they will like - it was a date to buy toys JUST FOR THE SAKE of buying toys. Its really sad.

Lately, while watching the boys play during our tri (yes tri) weekly visits to McDonald's, I realized the best present we could give Jake we've already given him - his little brother, Harrison. I would say the Jake is the best present we could have given Harrison, but that doesn't quite work, so I'll just have to say, "you get the picture."

The boys play so well together - they chase each other, they wrestle, they play legos and color and snuggle on the couch while they watch SpongeBob, they take baths together. Harrison adores Jake and does everything he can to be like him. Jake would be very lonely at McDonald's playgym without Harrison.

For anyone himming and hawwing over whether to have a second baby - definitely do! Yes its more work and you have to start everything over and over again, but it all goes so quickly and your first born (assuming they are within 3 years like Jake and Harrison) will love the built in playmate he/she can learn some of life's most important lessons from.

Plus, they occupy each other for hours on weekend mornings so Jason and I can sleep in.

Having Harrison was the best present we ever gave Jake, and our family.

Double Yum

I'm not a super huge TV watcher. Honestly, I'd rather read a magazine or a book, than sit in a vegetable like trance for hours watching other people mimic real life. I'm not a TV hater or anything. I like my shows like anyone else, I just find that I seem to have less of them that I watch regularly than other people I know.

My dad, for instance, will sit and watch the Food Network ALL DAY LONG. When I tell my mother they need to get a tivo for their TV, she jokes that it wouldn't be any good since the only channel they get is the Food Network.

Friends of mine have at least one show every day of the week and sometimes multiple shows back to back. More often than not I find myself consistently repeating the phrase, "I don't watch that" or "I haven't seen that" to deer in the headlight looks of shock and awe.

I loved the show Friends, but didn't really start watching it until it was already on for 2 years. With Sex and The City, one of my all time favorites, I had to borrow the DVDs from Blockbuster for the first 4 seasons before I got caught up. Same with Sopranos, another favorite and now I've started the same intense focus to get caught up on Grey's Anatomy.

It reminds me so much of ER, which I really liked too, but ER never really had a super hot actor to keep my attention. I could stare at Patrick Dempsey all day long - and will never stop wondering how the dorky guy from LoverBoy became Dr. McDreamy.

Double Yum.

Yum

I feel the need to share some thoughts regarding some tasty treats I've eaten recently. Its the Potbelly Sandwich shop's bag of a dozen mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that are baked fresh in the stores daily. I've known about them for several months, but wanted to consume several dozen, in the matter of research of course, to be sure my recommendation is legitimate and not an overzealous promotion based on one fluke bag.

They are real and I believe you can buy one large oatmeal chocolate chip cookie instead of the minis, but I think the minis last longer and the bag is resealable - a bonus for saving the last two or three that you could definitely polish off, but out of nothing more than sheer guilt, you push the bag away begging your spouse to eat them before you do, but he doesn't eat more than one (how is that possible?), leaving you two to savor the next day.

I have no idea how much this bag of goodness costs, but I think its somewhere around $2 to $3 and absolutely worth it. Next time you're in a Potbelly Sandwich shop, you must experience the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie - EVER. Period.