Another flying lesson canceled. Oh, well. It's gray and rainy and I don't particularly want to ramble too far today.

Yesterday I picked up some of those candles that have the LED lights implanted, put some red and gold ribbon around them, and set them in the windows. I think I like them better than the old, incandescent fake candles, and if I forget and leave them on all night it's less of a fire hazard or power drain. And I quite like the effect.

As I live by myself, I've been able to decide what level of decorating and hospitality works best for me. I won't be hosting any big parties this season. But I have a tree up and decorated, stuff in windows, and some lights strung up under the bar that separates the kitchen area from the living room. It looks colorful and warm when it's dark.

I really don't understand why I'm so tired today, and am scared for this week, with stuff after work every night but Tuesday.

I'm not decorating (I usually don't), but I've been baking up a storm, and the house smells lovely. I'm also enjoying Annie Lennox's new Christmas album very much.

So far our Christmas been relatively team-oriented.

We all met up at Matilda's school to collect the tree. Matilda helped carry the back end (that is - she grabbed a branch while Emmett lugged it) and I carried the front end.

It's a several block walk home, with Emmett proclaiming how very happy Christmas makes him. (He literally danced and did a jig on the way to get the tree: "Christmas just makes me feel jubilant!")

Dragged the tree inside. Matilda contentedly taking her little broom to sweep up needles in the hallway with no efficacy whatsoever.

Tree went up and was quite crooked. Lights didn't work. Off to Walgreens for more lights: pink, purple, and mixed. Matilda helped decorate leading to lots of clumping among the lower branches, and an odd medley of fancy ornaments, wooden toys and little picture ornaments of Emmett from when he was in preschool.

Then we watched our tape of Christmas themed Disney cartoons, and then Olive the Other Reindeer. Whee! Also, stockings are up, and Emmett has something in the toe of his already.

JZ did a ton of housework prepping for us moving our bedroom around to accommodate a new bed for Matilda. (Courtesy of Matilda's Papou. It'll be one of those two-tiered jobbies with a playspace underneath.)

Yesterday we had Jen and Matt over, so there was more house cleaning and I made a Spanish tortilla for them and fancy cocktails and we watched more xmas shows and chatted and it was most pleasant.

Matilda and I drove them home (Matt taking the broken desktop computer with him to fix), and one the way back we saw the most beautifully lit up Victorian house at the corner of Hayes and Masonic. Top to bottom lights on a three story building.

Oh yeah, and we went for the tree-lighting ceremony in GG Park on Thursday night and Matilda and Emmett rode the xmas train, and Matilda hugged Santa Claude (a guy dressed up like an albino alligator, with a santa hat).*

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*Claude is the actual albino alligator in SF's natural history museum, so they have a costumed mascot of him.

In short, it's been pretty loose and Merry so far. But our tree is crooked and the ornaments are ill spaced.

And I didn't get the cool looking wooden advent calendar that I had planned on getting this year.

But I don't have a Daisy Scout troop to entertain.

I'm getting the impression that Daisy Scout equals stress. Just for the troop leaders. I'm sure the scouts themselves are stress free.

My collection of glass figures is to the point that I can just about use only them. It's pretty amazing looking.

It can equal stress, but it's much like coaching, I would imagine. I love it, it's rewarding, it's a thing I really truly belive in and love doing.

But damn, the being an adult part sucks sometimes, and there are one or two kids you would like nothing better to do than launch them into the stratosphere.

Speaking as a Brownie leader (2-3rd graders), the girls are pretty much great. There is one who is kinda nuts, but several who are awesome. It's the parents, the planning and logistics, the Girl Scout office, and the forces of nature that make it stressful.

I am developing a full hate-on for the holiday.

Mine is fully developed. Since I am, as usual, going to my mother's for Christmas, decorating sometimes feels futile to me. On the other hand, not decorating adds to my feeling of being an utter failure as an adult.

Huh. Just relaized that a girl I was pretty good friends with in high school and middle school sang with The Decemberists on The Colbert Report. Neat-o!! Go Shara!

t /random

Say, can any of the male buffistas or non-male buffistas who shop for men's clothing, please recommend a nice online store where I can order my BiL an oxford shirt, please? He's 35 arm, 17.5 neck. I usually just hit up LL Bean, but everything except the plain French blue shirt that I got him last year seems to be back ordered into January. I'm hoping to spend less than $50 on it.