It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Cocoa, no grumpy. No cocoa, grumpy.

Luckily, there's cocoa in my house.

So, the house looks kinda like the holidays now, thanks to my entire Sunday afternoon being dedicated to decorating. Just don't have a tree. I've been told we should get a live tree - you know, the ones with the root ball still attached? Well, although the Farmer's Market does have some (five, to be exact), when you want to plant the tree later, you have to dig a hole double the size of the root ball. In this case, we're talking about at least 5 feet in diameter and a 1.5 feet deep. Yeah, right. I'm not digging a hole like that.

Went to the NCSA's presentation of The Nutcracker last night - on 6 hours of sleep. Pretty awesome. I never realized that the Sugar Plum Fairy was the prima donna of the show. I always thought it was Clara. Honestly, I'm still trying to commit the story to memory, so I can say that misconception probably came from that lack of understanding.

I also think it's funny that many people think it's over after the first act. You get these odd, quizzical looks that say, "That was it?" I can't be too critical though - I'm pretty sure I did that one year.

And I've gotten perhaps my biggest Christmas present this year: I'll be starting a new job the day after Christmas. Hope that it's a job that I really like. Doesn't really pay more than the job I'm leaving (a bonus at next Christmas, but bonuses are never guaranteed, so I'm not counting it), but I certainly think that I'll enjoy it more. More variety, a chance to really shape the job (since it's a new position), and some pretty cool people.

Mmmm, off to enjoy the cocoa. Bonne nuit.