I’m so very excited. You see, last night, Kevin ordered me my very own Flip and Fold (as seen on TV). Now, for the last few days I have been seeing the infomercial for this product but I had resisted the temptation to buy it. But last night, while channel surfing with Kev, I came across it and Kevin (bless his little heart) said I wasn’t a total schmuck for wanting it and could order it if I so desired. YES!

So in a mere 10 days, I will be the proud owner of my very own Flip and Fold. But wait, there’s more! Since we ordered in time, we were upgraded to two Flip and Folds for the price of one. Can you believe it? It must have been our lucky day or something. I mean, I’ve never heard of a deal like that before. Man, if the rest of 2003 keeps headed in this direction, there’s no end to the amount of good stuff we’re in for.

Now, really, I only need one Flip and Fold so if anyone one out there is interested in the other, let me know. I expect the second one to go pretty quick – after all, it’s the secret behind all the department store displays don’t you know – so I’m going to have to institute a first-email-first-serve policy here. The good news is that they are still offering the two-for-one deal so once I run out, there’s at least one other source.

Ten days…… I can hardly wait!

I hope Santa was good to you all and you have survived another Christmas season. Personally, I am amazed. It feels like it was Christmas yesterday and then – BAM – the year is over.

As for the New Year, I’m afraid I’m a bit of a potato. My family tradition is to watch TV, drink rootbeer floats, and promptly hit the hay at 12:02. Imagine my surprise when I left the nest only to discover that New Year’s Eve is a wild party night! Luckily, Kevin is also a potato and the idea of sitting at home sipping a float is his cup of tea. In addition, we have the scardy dog who absolutely hates fireworks to deal with so I have a feeling this year, we’ll ring in the New Year quietly. Sounds fabulous, no?

Haven’t yet come up with any resolutions. But then, seeing as how I’ve never actually kept any of my previous resolutions, I’m not exactly inspired. Maybe I’ll go for something simple like buy more shoes or eat pizza. You know, something I’ll definately keep – could be good for the old ego is nothing else. Hmmm, I may be on to something here……

Well, we finally made it, the holiday has arrived. The presents are wrapped and mailed, the dog is decorated and the tree is fed. Wait, reverse that. My mom should arrive any minute now and we’ll begin the festivities. I’m making “Kev-field Chicken” from our new Costco cookbook – courtesy of Dad. Then we’re heading out to our local church for the Christmas Eve service. They’ve had great services this month and I’m excited to see what they’ll do tonight. Everyone there is really friendly and welcoming. The two pasteurs are really engaging as well as entertaining.

For all of you following the great Xmas tree saga here is the final product:

Looks pretty good after all, doesn’t it? It was all those gorgeous presents we got – thanks for the encouragement Dan!

Merry Christmas! – Kev & Chrissie

So yesterday I accompanied my excited husband and a few friends to sit through another 3 hours of ho-bits. I am glad to report that I was pleasently surprised. There was quite a bit-o-action in this one – so much so that I couldn’t find time to go pee. Instead, I sat through all three hours with legs crossed.

Unfortunately, my same two complaints remained. I still believe the whole movie was filmed with a single light bulb and one microphone. I spent more time squinting in to darkness and straining to hear what was being said. I actually gave up trying to understand the tree people. But they were fun to look at.

Faster pace, less whining, and gollum was by far my favorite. I’m sure Kevin has more insightful thoughts on the subject but I’m afraid to get him started. Last time I asked a question, he brought out his map of the Middle Kingdom and began waxing poetic about the exact distance between Gondor and Rivendale or something. After about 2 minutes, I felt my eyes glazing over and the need to sleep was almost uncontrollable. Man, just writing about it makes me yawn.

So if you’d like a 12 page (with index/footnotes) diatribe about the movie, feel free to email Kevin directly. If nothing else, it might help you sleep!

So yesterday, Kevin received his Christmas bonus from work. As most of you know, Kev has been working like a dog the last few months putting in 60 hour weeks and even working weekends trying to fix the problems with his tools. I suppose leaving at 10pm has its rewards because yesterday, Kevin received a Christmas envelope. He was asked to keep it on the QT because not everyone was getting a bonus this year. Kevin played it cool and pocketed the envelope.

Once home, I ripped into that baby. A way out of credit card debit? An extra trip to see Baby D? A new tool? (OK, that last one was Kevin.) You can imagine my reaction when the big Christmas bonus was……. $74.00.

Yup. $74.00. I haven’t seem my husband before 8pm for the last two months and in return for this I get $74.00. Kevin, being the sweet person he is, was happy enough. It was more than nothing. After all, last year he got a $20 gift certificate to the grocery store and the year before that two movie tickets. But somehow, with all the hoopla and need for secretcy, I assumed there was something a little more substantial than, well, $74.00.

Sigh.

Well, I guess there’s always next year, right?

So I’m slowly crawling my way back into the land of the living. It hasn’t been easy, even with the oatmeal raisin cookies. You see, this year, I made the brilliant decision not to get a flu shot. I figured since I was no longer riding public transportation or working in an office building full of recycled air, I’d be safe from the flu. HA! I have paid in blood for this mistake. Even worse, I’ve fallen behind on Christmas.

This year, it was going to be different. This year, I was going to finish early and enjoy myself. HA! Instead, I spent over a week hacking up my lungs while dreaming of unfinished presents danced in my head. Sigh. Well, you know what they say, “if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans.”

So I’ve resigned myself to another frantic Chrissie Christmas. How bad is it? Well, lets just say, I let Kevin go pick out the Christmas tree by himself yesterday.

Yeah, I’m really that sick.

I’m sure most of you remember the tree fiasco last year, right? (If not, check out the Dec 17th entry from last year.) Falling behind on the Christmas schedule, I sent Kevin alone into the Christmas fields with two requirements for our tree. Six feet high, Douglas fir. After two hours, Kevin returned home with a four foot noble.

But this year, he topped even that experience. This year, I sent him out with the same requirements. Six feet – douglas. After only 20 minutes he returned with the Most Perfect Tree Ever. I am so not kidding. This was an A+ tree. Cut that morning from the hills of Clackamas, it was trimmed slimly with not a bare spot in sight. It was a whopping $30 (which is outrageous here in Oregon) but it was worth it. Kevin was sooooo proud. He done good.

Of course, sometimes, life is like a painting. You’re going along painting away and it looks good but for some reason, you just don’t know when to stop. And before you know it, you’ve added too much blue and your beautiful seascape has turned into a post modern nightmare and all you can do is ask yourself why? Why couldn’t I quit while I was ahead??

After letting the Most Perfect Tree Ever dry outside, Kevin picked up a pair of snippers and the tree stand and headed outside. The plan was to snip off a few low branches, fit it into the stand, and then bring the Most Perfect Tree Ever inside. Since I didn’t relish the idea of standing outside in the rain, I let Kevin go at this by himself. (You can see it coming, right?)

About 10 minutes go by when I suddenly hear massive cursing outside my door and the sound of snipping shears being thrown down in a pique of anger. Trembling, I opened the door to find that Kevin had massacred the Most Perfect Tree Ever. I don’t know what he was thinking but he had cut off the lower half of the tree. Our front yard was covered in tree branches so thick you couldn’t see the sidewalk……..and the tree! Oh the poor poor tree! What he did to that tree was at least a Class A Felony. I can’t describe it – you’ll have to see for yourself.

Kevin was furious. The animals ran upstairs and hid from his fury. Of course, I couldn’t stop laughing. Our tree look hilarious. This big bushy tree on top and a little exposed trunk below. He’d cut off a good 12 inches worth of tree branches. We did the only thing we could really. We chopped off the base and are now left with a very nice four foot douglas fir.

Poor, poor Kevin. He has made me promise to never again make him do anything with a Christmas tree alone again.

Ah, let the joy of Christmas begin!!!