I Bought My Dog Christmas Pajamas

No, seriously. I bought my dog Christmas pajamas.  I took him to Petco to get his facial and pedicure--i.e. I can't groom those parts of his anatomy--and I saw rows and rows of Christmas gear for dogs and cats.  As in sweaters, coats, running gear, Santa costumes, etc.  I was super tempted to get him a cheesy Christmas sweater, but I controlled the urge.  It's silly to dress animals.  Clothes are for persons.  Persons.  Not animals.
Well, then we went to Target to run another errand, and would you believe what I saw?!  Christmas pajamas for dogs.  For dogs!  This is significant because our family's Christmas card photo always includes the entire Jones clan decked out in Christmas PJ's. (Except last year. Sorry, no card.)  How could I NOT get those adorable little PJ's for only $9.99.
Whether that's ten bucks waisted or well spent, I don't care.  I have officially prioritized my dog's existence over ten bucks in my pocket.
I always wanted another sweet Shih Tzu to love. (Harvey was the love of my life for 15 years before he passed away.)  But I could not believe my husband jumped on my bandwagon last May.  Maybe he knew we were nearing our lost baby's due date and I'd need some comfort.  Or maybe he just saw enough photos of adorable Shih Tzu puppies.  They really are the cutest puppies on. the. face. of. the. Earth.
Seriously.  They are.
Long story short, our little creature shipped up to Boston via The Shermee Express, and we've been in love ever since.  As soon as he got here I was struck by what a comfort he actually was.  To hold him, to feed him, to be near him when he sleeps.  There is something very Unfallen about mankind looking after animals.  But I'm pretty darn Fallen, so it struck me as strange.  Still does.
In the end though, I know that this hairy, smelly creature is a blessing from God.  Do you think that maybe God comforts us where we are--even if it appears ridiculous to us?  To others?  I think God cares enough about us that ridiculous doesn't matter.
So we have a dog.  And I got him Christmas pajamas.
And he most definitely will be on our Christmas card this year.

Beware: B.daddy Brag

I try really hard to not brag.  My husband.  My kids.  They make it really hard to not brag.  I usually manage to control the impulse to shout out to the world how awesome they all are.  And then B.daddy goes and does something like this...

It has been a long day.  And tonight was going to be my night out.  (Oh yeah.  He gives me a night out every week.  He knew before I did that I need to be Alone on a regular basis.)  See, he wanted to work from home today, so he could handle home maintenance appointments.  But meetings at work...you know the drill.  So I schooled our kids on how to play hooky and not get caught on discipline and the three R's and the Romantic Period.  Instead of packing the kids in the van AS SOON as lessons were complete and heading to Trader Joe's for a cheap bottle of wine, I had to stay here to let strange men into my house and ask them Man Questions about boilers and radiators and chimneys. B.daddy knows that this sort of situation makes me very uncomfortable, which is why he wanted to be home to handle it. But he couldn't. 

To top that off, my hard workin' man called around 6 to let me know he was on his way home.  Forty minutes away. This is SUPER late if I'm going to have a night out.  I just said, grab a bottle of wine on your way home and that'll be my night out. It was too late to do anything, and frankly I was too tired to even put on jeans and go see a movie.

Not only does he come home with a bottle from my favorite label, he brought me their best pinot noir.  This is a big deal.  A very big deal.  So right now I'm sipping the best wine I've had in years listening to my Babydaddy wrestle with our hooligans.  He'll read to them, sing with them, and put them to bed.  All while I sit here and feel grateful and blessed.  That's my kind of night.  My kind of man.

I'm done bragging.

Accepting a homemade Christmas gift, which included a one dollar bill. :)

Sailing on the Adriatic Sea.

It's almost that time of year again!

Compulsive Pumpkin

Every October I am overcome by a compulsion to put pumpkin in everything I make.  Even chili--it's soooooo good!  Yesterday I started baking and I simply could not stop.  (I bake the stress right out of my head. It's a coping mechanism.)  I made Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies and Pumpkin Yeast Bread.  I used the yeast dough to make monkey bread* as well as a little loaf that was supposed to look like a pumpkin.  My husband didn't know what it was supposed to be. :)

All the recipes are linked above if you want to try any of them.  I dare you to try the chili.  It has a surprising and delightful flavor.  I keep it mild so my kiddos can eat it without protest, but I'm sure you can pepper it up if you want to.

*For the monkey bread, I let the dough rise for an hour.  Then I punched it down and pulled out small rolls; I rolled those in sugar and cinnamon and put them in a greased bundt pan.  Then I made a basic brown sugar and spice syrup (brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, cream or milk; boil one minute--sorry I don't have measurements--just eye-balled it) to pour over the top.  I let it rise in the pan for about 20-30 minutes, then baked it @ 350 for a 55 minutes.  Then I inverted it on a cake plate.