Welcome to the neighborhood...

(thank you, Seattle PI)

We were driving a friend home from our super fun(!!!) Christmas party this weekend, and behold, stumbled across what has to be my new favorite Seattle tradition. Candy Cane Lane. An entire street of already gingerbread-ish houses are decked to the nines in cheesy lights, blow-up Grinches, and even a Christmas merry-go-round. There are conscientious objectors (with whom I completely sympathize), but I could overlook the gawdy factor because of one thing.

Every house on the block has a small wooden sign with the word PEACE painted on it. And at every house, it's a different language! It has to be one of the most beautiful signs of solidarity I have ever seen. Even if it was doused in commercialized crap from Target. I cried.

And you know what? My favorite house had three little signs with quotes from famous peacekeepers--Gandhi, MLK Jr., and Jesus.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9

Merry Christmas.

Habits I've Formed Since Moving to the Other Side of Town

1. Plan large Christmas party without any grasp on how many people can actually fit into our living room.
2. Cook incessantly in a kitchen that's got storage for ALL my mixing bowls.
3. Curse the state of our 1940s stovetop (three burners, two get hot-ish).
4. Experiment with oven that is known to "keep getting hotter."
5. Call police upon suspicions of car prowlers.
6. Stop at UVillage every time I drive by (at least twice a day).
7. Make returns to UVillage when I remember that I still don't have a job and the whole stinkin' world is in financial ruin and it doesn't matter how cute those pillows are I already have cute pillows.
8. RAKE LEAVES.
9. Rake more leaves.
10. Bag leaves.
11. Trek to City People's to buy leaf bags.
12. Call Seattle Public Utilities (the new SPU) and burst into tears when customer service agent yells at me.
13. Leave message for said agent's supervisor about SUCH misconduct. Rude.
14. Continue working the exact same jobs I had one year ago (not the plan, but not so bad).
15. Spend days volunteering at most random places, but enjoying it all the while.
16. Watching Marie Antoinette and other movies in our giveaway pile.
17. Obsess over the John Adams miniseries from Netflix and tear up with patriot pride.
18. Shop online for Christmas gifts for myself (guilty).
19. Read ten thousand reviews on Twilight.
20. Start three new books, can't decide which to commit to.

21. HANG A HOLIDAY WREATH ON OUR FRONT DOOR! Hooray!

On Pain Tolerance

Husband: OW! Rubbing my shoulders should not mean causing me so much pain.

Wife: Oh please, your tolerance for pain is next to nothing.

Husband: That may be true, my dear...but which of us could survive in the WILD?

Christmas List Item #2

Since I have recently lacked the internet service/will to blog, I am posting yet another bit of fluff. But baby, it's some goooooood fluff.

"Go forth and strike fear into the hearts of the clueless, the careless, and the punctuation impaired."

Christmas List Item #1

Kate Spade is working with Women for Women International, and these mittens were made in Bosnia by women who are rebuilding their lives after the destruction of war. Cool cause, cool mittens!

Wedding Obsession Relapse

I'm not planning to get married anytime soon (since I just did that and everything, and I'm going to stick with the one I've got), HOWEVER...



Melissa Sweet still makes me swoon.

And one more thing...

I was a sixth grade fanatic over Bob Dole, so don't accuse me of supporting a candidate just because I think he's cool. I'm sure throngs of Obama supporters are relatively glazed over with starstruck awe, but as for me, I tend to be uncool (ie- no boyfriend except the one I married, unfortunate gap teeth followed by clear braces, very bad at any and all sports). So it's not about the cool factor.