It doesn't look like Christmas at all ...
I will never understand how people in the South can get excited about Christmas in 70 degree weather (our AC is still running because we can't open the windows) and no snow ... but here we are in the first week of November and I guess that means that Christmas is coming. I have a pot of homemade tomato sauce simmering on the stove in preparation for our lovely dinner tonight (gnocchi with tomato vodka sauce and bruschetta) and a pile of papers I've started grading but why not take a break and start making a Christmas list right? I will admit that many of these items are high ticket. I never go into Christmas thinking I'm going to get the presents I ask for. My family weren't much present-givers and as a result I'm not much of a present-getter. Plus, I always have misgivings about the commercialization of Christmas and all that. I mean, what about getting jewelry or clothes or other things really have anything to do with the birth of Jesus? On the other hand, I like giving people presents and this solves the problem of giving them for no reason. * Diamond cross pendant ... either this one or this one ... I don't have a dying preference for either one in particular but I do want something that matches my wedding band and engagement ring to wear on a regular basis and now, having owned a diamond for a year, they sort of fascinate me. They like, sparkle and stuff. Who knew? * These comfy Birkenstock shoes that I can wear to teach and not feel like I'm wearing scrubbies to work. They're nice enough that I can wear them to work and comfortable enough that I can, well, wear them to work. * Various Steeler paraphenalia ... you can never have too much Steelers gear ... I'm specifically looking for a long sleeve Steeler t-shirt. * My newfound love for cookery has prompted me to want a dutch oven, a cast iron skillet, a decent food processor and a pasta machine. Ambitious, I know, but the dutch oven is for roasts, the skillet for steaks and sautees, the food processor for pasta stuffing like ravioli stuffing and for sauces, and the pasta machine for obvious reasons. * Anything lavendar-vanilla from Bath and Body Works - candles, bubble bath, body wash, soap ... just not lotion. I'm not a fan of scented lotion but the lavendar vanilla scent is lovely. * A doggie. This one, especially, is not likely. We don't have the means to have a doggie yet but I want one quite badly. On the other hand, maybe not just yet. But a doggie. I'd call him Hines. If I got a girl doggie I'd have to think of another name. And before JJ thinks of a name. Because if JJ names the dog it'll be named "Waggy" or "Hairy" or something.