christmas is coming!

this will be the 1st christmas ever that i will spend in my very own home! my sister is suddenly moving back to the opposite coast, so my husband and i now have only one christmas guest. i foresee a cuddly morning opening presents next to our mini tree, with mugs of spiced cider and pumpkin bread.

i've collected evergreen boughs and distributed them around the house--one bundle in a swag on the front door, some on the advent wreath, another little bunch bundled with raffia on the sideboard, and random surprise bits here and there. my husband is celebrating the season by decorating in his own way: a snowboard propped against the dining room wall, and a christmas present to his car under the tree.

i'm not really planning much of a christmas dinner, but all attending have expressed great interest in ham. so christmas ham it is! i have more frozen pumpkin and canned evaporated milk, so pumpkin pie will be in the plan, too. i think some mashed potatoes, homemade honey-wheat bread (i'm perfecting my recipe), and veggies-of-the-week from our organics box will round out the menu.

the rest of our christmas guests arrive on the 26th, so that's when the partying will really start! snowboarding (not for me, this year), scrabble tournaments, sightseeing, possibly a new year's party at auntie trish's... and, of course, last-minute baby-stuff shopping with my MIL.

would you trust a bus service that proudly advertises its "partnership" with an ambulance service?

as in: "so, bob, how are things down at the station?"

"oh, pretty slow, phil. pretty slow. kinda worried about meeting our quota this month, ya know, budget cuts after the 1st."

"no prob, bob: i'm on the highway now with a full van... if you know what i'm saying. how quick can your boys get to milepost 51?"

maybe we'll just drive our own car to auntie trish's.

biscuit and gravy surprise

today is the 16th, which means i'm officially in the 9th month of pregnancy. to celebrate, i'm conked out on the couch while, for a role-reversal, don and robin are making the sunday brunch biscuits and gravy.

i keep catching random snips of conversation, wafting from the kitchen:

"mince. is that like dice?" "yeah, but smaller, i guess."

"sage, i think." "i would add saffron."

"oh crap." "what?" "this was in the oven, so it just got heated to 400 degrees."

wish me luck.

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree, i sure as heck love thee

we have the world's most adorable christmas tree. don't try to argue with me. i know it's true. (i wonder if i'm going to be as proud and possessive of our kid as i am of our tree.)

it's an 18-inch (not including the pot), asymmetrical austrian pine that we obtained for the bargain price of $12. we have not yet discussed what we will do with it after the holidays... whether we will keep it around until next year, or find someone's yard to plant it in. minor details.

we are holding off on the decorations until don's arrive from california. i have all mine (one from each year of my life, mostly angels from grandma) here already, even the chic gold-painted juice top with hot-glue-gunned macaroni and a class pic from 1st grade. we were going to at least put lights on it, but the a-DOR-able ones i found at fred meyer have lead-coated wiring, so we returned them. every other kind of lights in the whole aisle also had lead, so no lights for us. how can people think that's a good idea???!!! the label suggests that we merely "wash hands after use" but seriously. we purposely buy the more expensive water filter that removes lead, we paint over anything that might possibly have lead... and then decorate our homes with things that blatently say, "contains lead?" c'mon!

pepperspray productions

jim page linked to these guys recently. their motto is, "don't hate the media; BE the media." they claim to be an "anti-profit" corporation... one step beyond non-profit. finally, their footage is all "copy-left," so anyone can use their stuff for purposes that further social change.

checkin' it twice

the baby list is filled with check marks... from snappis (the new diaper pin) to a frightening teddy bear that makes in-utero noises (it was a gift) to creams for nipples and baby bums, we are READY! bring it on!

ready... other than a diaper pail, that is. this is a minor problem, since all commercial diaper pails are plastic, but my husband and i don't believe in plastic. so we are trying to decide 1) how quickly a metal pail would rust through, and 2) who gets to clean it up when it does. eww.

i'm officially huge

i actually got out of breath the other day while DRESSING!