happy december first!

this morning i was up at 6am to say goodbye to my husband and, even though i got home from work late last night, could not sleep another wink. it's my day off today and the first order of business was to turn every calendar page in the house over to DECEMBER. the second order of business was to put the wreath on the door. i took this picture because i get kind of a kick out of our wreath. i don't believe that it was made for weather as warm as ours. the red paint that surrounds each berry is completely cracked and chipped from sun exposure. it also looks like it needs a bit of a haircut from this picture, but i like it just the way it is. next, i will take out the stockings and other decorations and make this house all christmasy. plus, josh has consented to go pick out our christmas tree tomorrow. HOORAY!!

in our house there are rules. particularly rules pertaining to christmas. i am one of those people who think that only one month to celebrate christmas is a bit too short. i was tickled pink when my favorite christian radio station began playing carols the day after thanksgiving, and ever since then i've been happily in the christmas spirit. i am not, however, as insanely christmas minded as my friend leah d used to be...she would answer the phone with "merry christmas" at any time of year. my dear husband is one of those people who think that christmas songs are over-played and he officially gets sick of hearing them after they have been played once. oddly enough, he is also one of those people that absolutely CANNOT WAIT until christmas to open his presents. he and his sister used to get up super early on christmas morning, open their gifts, then wrap them back up before their parents woke up. that kind of behavior horrifies me. the sacredness of christmas secrets is so important to me, that if i were to accidentally find out what one of my gifts was before the actual day, i would probably start to cry. josh, on the other hand, begs and begs me all month long to open "just one gift". last year he pestered me until midnight on christmas eve, when it was "technically christmas", according to him, so i did give in once.

so, josh's rule about christmas music is that it is not to be played in our house until december first. my rule about christmas presents is that they are not to be opened until december 25th. i guess i kind of broke a rule the other day...

...it was my day off and happily cool enough outside to actually warrant wearing a long sleeved shirt. the picture of my parent's front yard covered in snow graced the background of my computer monitor. i had just come home from the post office with a large package stuffed full of christmas presents from my family, and was just about to start cleaning the kitchen, when i realized that christmas music would really help me clean a lot more thoroughly. besides, josh wouldn't be home from work for hours. i loaded up the cd player with 5 christmas cd's and went to work. it was lovely. that is, until my husband came home from work unexpectedly early. it took him and few moments before he froze, listened, then bellowed, "is this CHRISTMAS MUSIC???!!!" i admitted that it was and kind of pouted when he turned it off. he then announced that he was going outside to work on his truck. i still had the bathroom to clean and, since he wasn't within earshot, i turned the cd player back on. big mistake. he came in not too long after and i scurried to quickly turn the cd off. i wasn't quick enough because he stood in the kitchen, arms folded and said, "you know what this means, right? since you broke my rule, i get to break your rule. i get to open one of these christmas presents from your parents." oh, i begged him not to. i made the saddest faces i could come up with. i told him that i would tell my mom on him. i even offered to allow him to open the one with the christmas ornament inside, but he wanted something hefty with his name on it. after about 15 minutes of discussion, we finally came to an agreement. that evening was spent in me making his dinner, rubbing his feet, while watching whatever dvd he wanted to watch, and then i made crepes for dessert. i did this all with a smile on my face because those precious presents remained untouched.