The woman in the car behind me on the way to work this morning was crying. It was 10 minutes to 8 and this poor woman was a wreck of tears and ruined makeup and it broke my heart. Obviously I have no idea why she was crying, she just was and I swear to you it was all I could do to not a.) get out of my car and walk back to her at the light and see if she was okay or b.) start crying right along with her.

Is that hormonal or is it just the very idea of someone being so utterly miserable this close to Christmas that is so difficult to take?

Thank the lord for Tanya’s love of decorating. I think if it weren’t for her enthusiasm about holiday accessories I’d be a million miles away from Christmas this year. She pulled everything out Saturday morning while I went to the grocery store and I’ve had the pleasure of wandering around the apartment for the last few days, gleefully discovering some Christmas knick-knack that’s been out-of-site, out-of-mind for low these past 11 months.

Like these guys:

I spotted them yesterday morning behind the front door and busted out with a stupid grin of recognition. That dumb little rubber santa was part of the gift wrap on a present from Michael. Few people know this but Michael is a gift wrapping maniac. As far as he’s concerned, the wrapping and presentation IS the present. Doesn’t matter at all what’s in the box. And he frequently spends more money on these details than on the gift itself.

And then we have Bobo tree:

We can’t really afford to put up a regular tree this year for a few reasons. One, we’re going to be gone the entire week of Christmas, so what’s the point. Two, Arwen, the devil cat from hell, destroys Christmas trees. Or at least she did last year, including a few family heirloom ornaments that I still haven’t forgiven her for.

But I really like this little Charlie Brown tree that my mother made as a decoration for our guest room last year when we spent Christmas in Ohio. It’s small and cute and so far Arwen has stayed off of it. I think it’s festive.

What Arwen is REALLY interested in this year is this:

We’ve actually had to stop her from climbing into it whilst it was lit. Which is weird because as a rule I tend to think she’s just about the smartest cat in our bunch. You’d think she’d figure it out. The only things Miss Kitty ever ever notices at all are chicken and ice cream. Ever. Spencer is just plain dumb. And you know how cats can be really obtuse about stuff that doesn’t make any sense to them. They can look right at something and if it doesn’t register in their brains as something familiar and interesting they just block it right out of their heads like it isn’t even there. So he walks blithely past the fireplace as though nothing of interest could possibly be happening.

Arwen tries to get inside it.

I don’t actually have photographic evidence or her attempt to climb inside because well, I was kinda busy snatching her out of it.

But I’m trying to get my Christmas on, really I am. And I’ve got more to say but I’m running late and will have to post more tomorrow. Lisa made me feel guilty today so I’m giving ya’ll somethin.