…your photos could use a little kick in the stripey tights. Check out 16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas.

More Peanuts nods: the cast of Scrubs does A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love it.

Now I really want a lovely, whole wheat gingerbread man on a stick!

Don’t forget about Leslie Harpold’s annual online Advent Calendar!

Here’s something silly I thought about today. We used to decorate our doors in the dorms (well, more than that — I had a tiny tabletop tree, and lights in the window, too). I think that, some years, there were contests.

This was one of my non-winning designs (c1989, gasp):

We put up our tree today. Or maybe I should say that we unfolded our Christmas tree today. I’m still not done unfolding it actually. It’s taking longer to put up than a real tree.

My mom never let us put up the Christmas tree until several days before Christmas. I hated having to wait to put it up, especially when it was already selected and just waiting in a bucket of water in the garage. We were letting the bugs crawl out of it before bringing it in the house, or so they told me.

So, at our house, we put the tree up much earlier, but as much as I like having it up earlier, I just couldn’t do it before today.

Anyway, D located his stuffed Christmas Bear this morning on the floor of our closet. Not sure when it got left there, but listening to a rousing rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with Christmas Bear’s bright red nose, blinking in the early morning light and the kids humming along seemed like a fitting way to start December.

OK, sorry to deviate from the Christmas theme for a moment. My other blog does not seem to be up at the moment, but strangely enough this one is fine.

On the Christmas theme front, why don’t we have a ChriBloPoMo! A post here a day starting tomorrow. Now that we’ve honed our blogging skillz, let’s keep the momentum going.

Here’s my update:

Gifts: All done! Yay! (well, except for another little thing for my mom.)
Decorations: None up yet. Hoping to start this weekend.
Cards: Cards, stamps purchased. Letter being printed out.
Travel plans: set.

Dottie is my mother. I always have the hardest time figuring out what to get for people, so I’m hoping to get a headstart this year.

Dottie enjoys classical music — a CD perhaps (Segovia?) maybe.
She has an African grey parrot that she loves.
She and dad just redid their kitchen — new calendar w/ rings?
She’s addicted to free-cell and likes those word-puzzle books.
Doesn’t like cooking.
Jewelry - eh.
Grand-child item. Don’t know.
One of those digital photo frames for them both?

Dad — enjoys going to the gym. Surfing the net. Flyfishing. A new tie w/ grandkids on it? Reading.