The Goose is Getting Fat...

We're almost ready for Christmas after a big push this weekend to get preparations taken care of. We shopped on Saturday morning, met for lunch at Chili's, and then went tree shopping. We first went to a tent in the Sam's Club parking lot. There were beautiful, perfectly shaped trees with heavenly aroma and hellish price tags. I loved the 10 footers-- why not, since we have the vaulted ceilings? I'll tell you why not. Because $179 is too much for a dead tree which will be thrown away in two weeks. Even the small six footers were around $60. We decided to hit Lowe's.

Lowe's had their trees priced much more reasonably, so for $26.88 we got ourselves a lovely six foot tree of some kind I can't remember. We wrapped it in our painting drop cloth and bungee-corded it closed so it wouldn't get needles all over the inside of my trunk and car. You know that old commercial where the dad is trying to talk to his daughter about not smoking pot? When he rolls himself up in a white blanket on her floor, like a joint? Our tree very much resembled a six foot long joint. I took a pic- I'll post it soon.

We put it up, did a little trimming, and the thing is perfect! I even rubbed the needles to make sure no green paint would come off. (Our first tree two years ago from Menard's was painted green. If you rubbed the needles the fake green would come off on your fingers. It was pretty funny.) Well, our Lowe's tree had no green residue. It's real through and through. And it smells divine. We spent Sunday evening decorating it and making the living room look actually Christmasy.

We met on Sunday afternoon with a realtor. We got a name from the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida-- there was a full-page impressive ad for this lady real estate agent, so I called to see what working with a real estate agent is like. She called back to say she is having health problems but would send her number one partner. So Gordon came over on Sunday afternoon-- what a salesman! Man, when you see a person who is just right for his or her job, there's something great about that. We listened to what he had to say, asked some questions, and pretty much decided after he left that we'd let things sit over the holidays and then would start up again after January 1st. But then he called yesterday to see what we had decided, and he gently reminded me that the population down here swells quite a bit over the next week and we might want to take advantage of that. So, being the comparison shoppers we are, we have a call into another real estate agent and we'll try to meet with him tonight or tomorrow, and then we'll make a decision. With the market as slow as it is, unless we have an agent who can get the word out wider than we can, the house will just sit here.

Today is our holiday lunch at work, followed by a meeting until 2 p.m. And tonight is the four-year-anniversary of Brad's and my first date! Four years ago he picked me up in his navy blue Jetta, took me to Flat Top Grill, which we learned was under construction. We walked a block down to the Asian place on Davis, but after looking at the menu neither of us were interested. So we finally went to That Little Mexican Cafe where he talked and I listened. In the middle of it I went to the restroom to call my friend Burns (her last name) and tell her it was the best first date I'd ever had. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights in the Sauganash area of Chicago.

So tonight Brad's making dinner and then we're going to see the Holiday Arbor Lites at the local nature center. Four years of dating, three years ago engaged, exactly two and a half years ago married. Thank you, God, for the gift of my husband!

A few of you have written, worried about my mental health. I'm doing better, just taking it a day at a time. That straw that broke the camel's back was apparently a big straw and I'm feeling a bit chemically down, if you know what I mean. I have a doctor's appointment in early February and will probably ask for something to put a little pep in my step then. Thanks for your concern, and for not running away when I share things that are deeply personal like this.

Have a great Wednesday, all!