Going Through Withdrawal

I'm so desolate without my computer at home. Over the last couple of days I've managed to pop on for a second here or there just to check and see if I had any pressing, important emails. Yeah, that never really happens, but I can pretend.

Last night, the battery officially died. I was reading an email and suddenly my little Dell was preparing to hibernate. Fine. I hope my new cord comes soon.

I still want to post about Thanksgiving, more for my own journaling record, I suppose, since it's now a week and a half after the fact and you all are probably over Thanksgiving stories. But I have some cute pictures.

I decorated my little family room down in the basement this weekend. Jason and talked about getting a tree Sunday night after Thanksgiving, but we got back to town late. We did manage to find one tree lot just about to close, but the little trees were $35 and I wasn't feeling that dedicated to it considering I'd be decorating it by myself and all since he was leaving at 6 AM the next morning. Plus I was really, really tired and not feeling all that Christmasy.

Well, Saturday I pulled out one Christmas box looking for my Santa Claus Christmas countdown door hanger. I didn't find it (and am really wondering where it is...), but I did pull out some cute figurines of angels and santas, including the angel music box that used to sit on my piano every Christmas when I was growing up. I also happened upon some lights that I decided to check and see if they still worked. One of the long strands worked perfectly, so I sat on my floor for a moment, mulling over the set-up in the room and deciding what to do. I wound up stringing the lights across one side of the room and placing burgundy velvet bows on the lights intermittently.

I spent the weekend basking in the Christmas light glow. When I was little I used to lay almost under the Christmas tree, reading Anne of Green Gables or A Christmas Carol in the glow of the lights on the tree. Um, that may be one of the reasons why my glasses prescription is so strong.

Also, my mom and dad sent me this amazing Swiss chalet advent calendar. I don't know if anyone besides me ever noticed this, but in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in between each day they show this beautiful Victorian house that is an advent calendar. They open a window every day, and behind each window is a painted scene of Victorian holiday fun. On Christmas Day they open the front door, where you see the family gathered around a huge tree. It's probably wrong that my most vivid memory of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the scene-changing advent calendar, but there it is. I also rather liked Eddie's bright red dickie under his cream sweater.

Anyway, my parents found this advent calendar in the shape of a Swiss chalet with snow on the roof and evergreen and holly in the window boxes. There are no painted scenes, but instead the windows either open to reveal an empty space or pull out a little drawer perfectly sized for a little Christmas treasure. So cute! I have taken pictures and will post them once I get the computer cord.

See how much of my blogging destiny hinges on getting that computer cord?

Since I have a job at least until Christmas, I find that I'm getting into the Christmas mood. It has come late this year, but it's here and I'm glad. Yesterday I Tivoed "Christmas" and "Holiday" for the next couple of weeks to find the programs I don't want to miss. I'm looking forward to some festive TV viewing.