This ‘n That

I’m all about Christmas this week!

— 1 —

We got our Christmas tree last weekend on the coldest day of this winter so far — brr! We got a slightly smaller tree than in years past, mainly because I didn’t want to spend an additional $25 for one that was a mere 6-12 inches taller. But as a result, the tree fits in a spot we’ve never used before — tucked nicely between our fireplace and TV instead of on the other side of the fireplace, where it jutted out into the entryway. I put the breakable ornaments on the top half and covered the bottom with kid-friendly ornaments made of things like felt and cork. Emma is fascinated by the lights and likes to touch the ornaments, which she sometimes accidentally pulls off and then says “uh oh” in an incredibly cute way.

— 2 —

I finally dialed up one of XM holiday stations in the car and have been enjoying Christmas songs every time I’m in the car for the last week. I have fairly strong opinions on Christmas songs, such as:

Like:

• O Holy Night
• Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel
• Carol of the Bells
• Sleigh Ride (both with and without lyrics, though I prefer instrumental)
• Feliz Navidad (oh I can’t help it, it makes me happy!)

Dislike:

• Twelve Days of Christmas
• Dominic the Donkey
• I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
• Do They Know It’s Christmas/Feed the World

In general, I realized that the newer the song is, the less likely I am to like it. So there you have it.

— 3 —

Erin and I spent some time Wednesday morning decorating the entrance to our cubicle area for our work’s holiday decorating contest, and Melissa and Barbara helped us add to it yesterday. In the past, it’s been a door decorating contest, but we moved to a new building last March and no longer have a doorway…so we made one! Now we get to walk through a gingerbread house to get to our desks. I even gave Buzz a festive Santa hat. It’s amazing. I know.

— 4 —

For last year’s door decorating contest, we made an awesome fireplace scene. It was CLEARLY the best decoration, but the (obviously blind) judges gave the top prize to one of the other branch chiefs in our division. There was a lot of trash talk back and forth, and we ended up moving our entire door decoration from our office to his after the contest as a joke. Hilariously, he KEPT the decorations — even moving them with him to our new building. He has his own office that does have a door, and the other day he put OUR decorations from last year on HIS door.

We were so inspired by his act that we honored him with his very own gingerbread man hanging from the ceiling:

— 5 —

Our holiday luncheon at work is today (of which the decorating contest is a component). I volunteered to make a dessert and ended up trying this fairly easy recipe for Minty Chocolate Mousse Brownies that I found via Pinterest, of course. I tried one last night and while I’d like to report that they are delicious and mmm minty…they are really just enh. Is there a blog where someone makes Pinterest recipes and rates them? If not, somebody should get on that.

Plus, my springform pan leaked brownie mix all over the bottom of the oven, and it started to burn halfway through the cooking time. That pan always leaks. And I always forget that it leaks until I use it again. And it leaks again. Repeat.

— 6 —

For the first 3 years in our house, we put up icicle lights along the front (seen here). I loved joining in with all the other neighbors and making things look festive. But it’s a two-person job to get them up, so last year we didn’t do it with Emma so little, and this year I mentioned I was seriously debating paying someone to do it for us. I actually called the “Christmas Lights Guy” — or so the signs all over our neighborhood call him. He did a drive-by on Wednesday and left a quote…for $258. That’s to use our lights that we already have. Oh, and then it’s another $115 to come take them down in January.

Um. Those light guys are making some serious dough.

Does anyone want to come hang out in our front yard with us and Emma for 2 hours this weekend? We’ll hang the lights, and all you have to do is keep Emma from running into the street. Any takers?

— 7 —

I still have not bought a single Christmas present. I blame Amazon Prime, as it enables my tendency towards procrastination. This weekend? Present-buying frenzy time!

(Linking up: 7 Quick Takes, hosted by Conversation Diary)