wKHM

Corinne Bailey Rae -- Trouble Sleeping (Corinne Bailey Rae, 2006)
Yes, this album continues to please. It is worth its cost and you will enjoy it for a long time.

The end of a tradition...

About 15 years ago I bought this gourd painted up like Santa's face at a craft fair. It cracked me up and reminded me of my maternal grandfather who had some cherished (??) gourds, some allegedly 100 years old before he died...

Rob HATED my Santa gourd. Of course I had the thing before him so we were kind of an "as is" package. Over the years I think Rob has come to hate it less as I have refused to hide it away, etc. Each year after I've decorated, Dave always comes in and makes a big fuss of not being able to find it and accusing Rob of trashing it. And you know how sometimes couples grow into these little games ---- it was just fun to needle him about it and trade all those little barbs.

Lindsay has been fascinated by it. Guess what? Broken. I guess its something of a milestone when traditions you've built for your family die their natural deaths. There was this moment while I was decorating our house this year that I realized how much I love the garlands and bows we drape our railings and mantles with... that given my family's paripatetic life, we missed some of these pleasures---how nice it is to have the traditions associated with a particular space. I believe they call that home, right?

Gadget Girl
You guys know I'm gadget girl. No one is surprised. I am what I am and that's all what I am. Rob's cell phone broke this weekend in the midst of the Noodle hunt. Having recently had my own go south a couple months ago, I told him where I thought would be the best place for him to go to get a replacement. Remembering that our warranties were expired, I quickly recognized the opportunity to check out some of the hotter new devices on the market. Rob had no problem taking my proffered Razr (hardly NO scratches!) and off I was to the Cingular store. I have now a Cingular Blackberry Pearl, the 8100. BEAUTIFUL and small. Best of all, our IT people have agreed to direct my professional emails to the unit rather than the bulky, duplicative, not as cool, professional issue model I've had to carry in addition to my Mommy phone. How 'bout that? How cool is this phone? Web browsing and email through the Cingular network on my plan OR its also Wi-Fi enabled so I don't have to use my plan time to surf. Drew, Lyman, others---I've been reading your blogs on it all week...SNAP. Today is just Tuesday; anyway, its going to be a habit. The screen resolution is OUTRAGEOUS---like TV quality. And yep, its got all the media bells, too0 up to 2 gigs of storage for music, photos and video files.

Sorry to nearly duplicate Drew's post from yesterday. I'm gadget girl---I couldn't not make this post.

Knitting
Reluctantly I have put away all my non-gift knitting until after Christmas. I'm feeling a little grouchy about it. I have the rest of the week off after today and I plan to knit like a crazy woman.

Mullen Movie Night
Each year at Christmas we host all 13 of the near-neighbor (5 contiguous houses full) children for an evening of holiday movies, crafts and goodies. Its something of a gift to their parents as you might imagine... This year's gala is Saturday night. We have a bunch of movies, some ornaments to make and cookies to decorate. I love this event more than any I attend or host. It is SO much fun! It helps that our neighborhood is full of great kids who all get along.