Sun Valley Serenade—a 1940’s comedy, starring Sonja Henie and John Payne, filled with intrigue, jealousy and dare I say it—curse words. No wait, wrong cast but correct location and correct dialogue.

The few Christmas cards we’ve received this year prominently display the family pooch front and center. With that in mind—I’m posting this amusing note from ‘The Writing Bug’. Unfortunately, the author wasn’t listed.

I’m a friend of Daniel the owl—no I don’t make it a habit to form relationships with wildlife, but I do make exceptions when the wildlife is stuffed and a classroom project of my nephew. I try my best to be a good Aunt for my sweet little nephew, as long as my duties don’t involve mathematics, I absolutely draw the line at fractions.

Is it just Tom and I, or do other couples have Christmas tree-stand issues? I mean there are so many other worthwhile things we could be arguing about—like, what color of lights to put on the house, or what does his mother want for Christmas, or how many pieces of sticks and coal our youngest child deserves. Really, she didn’t mean to be sassy and disrespectful to me. She was having a bad day—week—year. But that’s another story. The freaking Christmas tree-stand continues to be the bane of our holiday stress.