Wow. It's November already.
I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. I just started today but I'm almost finished. One more day and I'll be done. I really enjoy getting things for people, especially when I know that they'll like it, and especially when I can get a lot of gifts in one fell swoop. One thing I don't enjoy is going from place to place to buy stuff, especially when pretty much anything you'd want you can buy online. That is why I pretty much insist that everyone around me have some sort of internet wishlist. Of course, that takes some of the element of surprise out of it, but I'd rather my loved ones be a little less than surprised with a gift they love rather than completely surprised by a hideous gift. "SURPRISE! This gift stinks!"
This brings me to the discussion I hear sometimes about purchasing things on the internet. I've heard it argued that purchasing things on the internet is no good, because it takes away from local businesses. I'm sure some of that's true, but let's face it, if we do buy things in our town it's not from the Sawyer Family General Store, owned by 6 generations of Sawyers ("I'll have 3 yards of that lovely calico fabric and 4 sticks of peppermint candy, please"); we usually head on over to the nearest Target or (gasp!) Wal-Mart. People out there running internet businesses are part of our local global community, so there. I know most of you reading this blog are not going to argue with me about this...but it's my blog and it's my ranting outlet, so I get to argue with imaginary people.
Anyway, next on my agenda (and I say "my" because Chad couldn't care less) is to buy a Christmas tree. I must do this because, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, all the gifts I am buying will be on their way soon and I need a pagan symbol to light up and put the gifts under. Maybe I'll go get one tonight. So the question is, fake or real? Hmmm, if I don't want to have to do this every year, I'll get a fake one. Cheaper in the long run, and not as messy. Yep. It's decided.
I also need to mention that it has begun. One of my students found my blog. Anje, if you are reading this, go away. No, I'm kidding. Kind of. I think "Go away" is the kind of thing that you're not supposed to say when you are a teacher and a student is reading your blog.
Changing the subject...one of our city councilmen is proposing a baggy pants ban in our city. What? Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? Ooh, let's get more tight clothes on people. How attractive. At least baggy pants are modest. And how do you define baggy? Would I get fined if I wore some baggy sweatpants in public? Just because some fashion style is against your taste doesn't mean you should fine people for looking bad. In that case, let's start handing out tickets for people wearing tapered "mom jeans" and those half-jackets that only go to just below the armpits, or how about those coaches who wear those shorts with the two snaps on them? It's really interesting to me that the target of this proposal is baggy pants and not too much cleavage or really short skirts/shorts that show waaaay too much hiney. What about females who wear pants that are so tight it squeezes their back fat until it plumps out all around their belt? What about really low cut pants on females where you can see their...well all kinds of stuff you don't want to see? And really, before you say that you think it's a good idea to fine people for wearing baggy pants, think about the precedent that would set for all of us being told what we can and cannot wear. Let's be realistic here anyway...the guys wearing the baggy pants usually have baggy shirts that go all the way down to their knees anyway. I appreciate their willingness to keep it all covered up. By the way, I just checked the poll of people who think this is a good or bad idea, and 72% like the idea. I guess I am in the minority. If I was a cop I'd be a little ticked at the idea of having to patrol the streets looking for the "Pants Ordinance" violators instead of stopping real crime.
Josh and Kellen are discussing the snow. Kellen had just woken up from his nap, looked outside, and said, "What's it doing?" So cute.
Uncle Chad is showing Kellen how it's done. It took us a while to get him off the porch and into the snow. 
Kellen got the hang of it.
And here is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. Not much, but still fun!
Later that day, we decided to put lights on our house. I think we had to make three runs to the store for more lights by the time it was all said and done. Oh well, it's pretty.
Here is another view. I love how you can see our Christmas tree through the front window. Chad did most of the work on the lights even though I helped him some, and I have to say I think he did a great job. He knows that I've always wanted to put up lights once we bought our own home, so he was very gracious and accommodated my wish. He didn't even complain in the 25 degree weather.
This picture was actually taken for the sole purpose of going on the fashion page of our yearbook. These are my editor's (another 18-year-old female) shoes.
