Christmas with Craig and Ellen

There's nothing like Christmas to make your house feel like a home. Especially if your house is small, so the Christmas tree seems to fill up all available space, winding around corners and surprising you in the shower.



I still love it, though, and wish I could show it off with better photography skills. Our tree is pre-lit with white lights, to which we add bubble lights and little red paper balls that make the white lights look red and warm. I've also been adding all the pictures that we receive in Christmas cards to the tree. I really like that, and will probably do it again. And to make it truly our tree, it's topped with a Minnesota Twins hat.

The house lit up at night. Note the appalling lack of snow. I wish we'd get just a little bit, so the boxwoods on the right didn't look so ghostly covered in their shrub protectors for winter.



A cautionary tale - beware the dangers of an unused room. It will be taken over by junk. The fact that it is junk of a holiday nature doesn't make it any better.



It's the baking that really ushers in the holiday season for me, though. It just doesn't feel like Christmas until I've slaved in front of the oven for a full weekend, stepping on Phoebe an average of 17 times per day. I don't know what this says about my character, other than the fact that I like cookies, and I like sharing them even more. Indeed, I have to share them, otherwise Craig would have to roll me into January.



Some of the fruits of my labor - gift baskets for co-workers.



So, Merry Christmas. Feel free come on over, have some cookies, and hang out with us. Help remind us that no matter how long our renovation list is, our home is still a home as long as it's cozy and welcoming and personal. Just don't expect Craig to share his prime spot on the couch.