Our first Christmas

I get giddy around Thanksgiving.

Not only do I get to pig out on all my favorite foods, but it means I am officially able to shop and decorate for the holidays.

I put up our pre-lit tree on Thursday morning before we headed down to visit family in Huntersville and Charlotte. I knocked out all but two family members on my gift list during Black Friday.

We returned to a disaster area.

The cats apparently tried to climb the tree while we were gone. It was pitifully draped over the bookshelf in our living room, a trail of fake pine needles running from the crime scene around the corner in the kitchen and into the laundry room. Obviously they were spooked by the falling tree and high-tailed it to their easiest hiding place.

We think they were both in on it, too. They both wanted to greet us after our day away, but meekly ducked under tables and chairs until they were sure we weren't going to yell at them.

So for Rocky and Smalls I have the most appropriate Christmas gift of all: lumps of coal in their stockings.

Sidewalks?

I went running around my neighborhood and noticed a few peculiarities.

Sidewalks are on one side of the road. Sometimes there are patches of no sidewalk at all. It goes from one side to the other.

It's really strange. Almost as if the neighborhood were built in pieces that didn't quite connect.

I was excited when I found out there was no homeowners' association. Now I'm starting to wonder. Is it better to have an association that will generally get on your nerves and enact silly rules like matching mailboxes, or is it better to live really close to your neighbors without a way to keep stragglers in tow?

I'm still undecided about it. This is my first experience in the suburbs, and this country girl has a lot to get used to.

Lady bugs?

My cats are going crazy over little bugs crawling on my ceiling.

Lady bugs!

They are cute, and I'm pretty sure they are harmless, but how did they get in?

Just in case you're wondering why there are cat photos on the right, the top one is of Smalls staring at the ceiling. The bottom one is Rocky trying to jump up the wall to get a lady bug.

I'm stumped, but entertained.

Hello, winter

Did anyone notice that it got colder outside?

We milked the weather for as long as possible. Now the potted plants have new homes inside and the heat is on.

And once again I'm worried about our utility bill. Heating was the reason the previous owner had such outrageous bills, which subsequently drove up our utility deposit.

Until that dastardly bill makes it to our mailbox, I'm wrapping up all the winterizing tips I can think of. Namely, I've checked the windows for drafts and I've reversed our ceilings fans to pull air up rather than blow it down. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I should do, but I will wait until my HVAC dad visits again.

In the meantime I leave the oven door open after cooking, I open the blinds to get the greenhouse effects at sunrise and sunset and I keep the heat down and the clothes up.

P.S. I overheard a group of adults bashing recycling at the App State football game yesterday. Even if you don't think global warming is mankind's fault, there is no reason to be ignorantly wasteful. That includes energy usage and recyclables. Why throw something in a huge pile no one wants to live near when you can use it again to make something else? I'm going to wrap it up now because I'm getting riled up again.