Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a good night.

Christmas in the Cube

For a while I couldn't get any of my Christmas decorations at home to look decent, so I gave up and just threw a bunch of stuff in my cubicle at work. I usually try to make decorations for my cube, but around this time of year I'm too busy making gifts (which always take me about 10 times longer than I think they will). Instead, this time I just used stuff I already had on hand, which made it look a bit too commercially and cheesy, but what the heck.




To make things a bit more personalized, I added old ornaments I'd had as a kid or were given to me by former students. I put them on top of the bookshelf.




The lighthouse ornament is from my uncle, who collected U.S. lighthouse replicas and visited almost all of the originals. He passed away unexpectedly a couple of months ago, so this one is even more special to me now.




This is Clara from the Nutcracker. Her left arm used to hold the Nutcracker, but they're both long gone.



My personal favorite is one that I painted when I was about four years old. The loop at the top of her hat to hang her on the tree was broken long ago, so she doesn't really have a choice but to hang out on the sidelines.




I realize that it totally looks like a scene from the Rudolph TV special, but that's okay. I happen to love that movie. Especially this guy:

(image source)

He's welcome in my misfit toy menagerie anytime.

Awkward

You must go to Awkward Family Photos. Right. Now.

Seriously.

Run. Don't walk.

And while you're at it, swing by Cake Wrecks.

For, you know,

Poo-Dolph the reindeer.

Thankful Thursday

(At least I have somewhere where I'll fit in)

Just a quickie today, as all the holiday craziness is starting to descend and I'm worried about suffocation.

1) I've got almost all Christmas shopping done. I still have to finish making a lot of homemade gifts, but I'm hoping to finish those soon. At least, that's what I keep telling myself....

2) Really good counseling session yesterday.

3) Two days without waking up with a panic attack. Whoo hoo!

4) Someone from Freecycle is going to cart away our stove that's been collecting dust and dirt outside for months!

5) Lots of Christmas candy and cookies in the office lately. Yum!

6) Found the camera I thought I'd lost.

7) Less homework to deal with so close to the holidays.

8) The pharmacy finally took my card that gives me up to 12 months of a certain prescription for free!!

9) All week I've been getting really good advice from good friends; you have no idea how much you've helped!

10) Only two days of work next week. Now that's something to celebrate!

(image source)

Go Green, Go Evil...

(image source)

I was reading an article on Slate this morning that had an interesting take on the green movement. Apparently, an experiment was set up where people played a game where they could choose from two stores to buy products online, one was specifically eco-friendly and the other wasn't. Then the subjects played a seemingly-unrelated game where they were allocated money to share with an anonymous person, as much or as little as they wanted. The "eco-friendly" subjects shared less money than their counterparts. They were also more likely to cheat and steal in another money-related game.

So what's the deal??

"Several studies propose that the state of our self-image can directly influence our choices from moment to moment. When people have the chance to demonstrate their goodness, even in the most token of ways, they then feel free to relax their ethical standards."

The article goes on to state that a possible reason for this is that we see ourselves as earning "moral credits" on doing good for the planet, that allows us later to slack on other things.

I like that the end of the article the author mentions how we should be making these acts of greenness habitual and routine, and that if we do, we won't be as tempted to bask in the light of our halos.

Interesting food for thought.

Ten on Tuesday

(image source)

More little things to get me through right now.

1. My down sleeping bag that I keep in the car. It's suddenly gotten quite cold here in SoCal and it's come in handy quite a bit. I like having it ready at a moment's notice, especially since our office building always feels like the AC is on.

2. A counselor who gets me. (Big. Real big.)

3. The ability to get out of bed at 3:30 AM to go to work. I'm not saying I’m happy about it, but I'm glad that I have actually managed to continue doing this, no matter what the circumstances. Makes me feel kind of invincible.

4. The rain we've gotten recently in our dry, brittle corner of the desert.

5. Warm fuzzy socks.

6. The commuter lane!

7. The discovery I recently made of using a scarf wrapped around my waist to counteract the draft created by low-rise jeans and short sweaters.

8. The fact that I finally colored my hair without one stain on the floor, counter, or wall. (I think.)

9. Wonderful friends and family who are praying for me.

10. Leftover cornbread. Random? Kinda. Delicious? Definitely.

Check out Crayl's blog for more wonderful things in life to be thankful for.

Thankful Thursday

There has been a lot of craziness lately. And I mean, A LOT. Some days I don't even know which end is up. It would be really easy for me to throw myself a big ol' pity party right now. Complete with black balloons and dreary dirges playing in the background.

But surprisingly, I am managing to survive and even be happy about certain events coming up, even though they will be very different from the original plans. I am really happy that I will actually be taking a break from the usual hustle and bustle and STRESS of the season, and instead will have some time to rest, relax, and basically hibernate. And, just as with my thankful Thanksgiving list, I realize that it's the little things that are going to get me by.


* I did not have to take part in the Christmas Gift Exchange Throw-down '09, part of an annual battle that takes place each Thanksgiving. I was also able to escape this year's pie debacle as well.

* No one in my family has ever given a fruitcake as a gift, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe this year.

* I will actually have time to reflect on the important aspects of the season.

* I will not have to participate in any feats of strength. (Name that show!)

image source

*I can watch Love Actually as many times as I want.




* Will Ferrell in tights. What more is there to say?

image source