With each passing year it keeps feeling more and more like Christmas comes up faster than we expect. I started working on a new banner for this blog that would commemorate the holiday season (and be adequate to leave posted until February) but it still hasn't gotten past the drawing board. I plan to still get it on this site this weekend, but it was evident early on that I would not get the drawing ready for a visit from Santa.
Since we finally woke up from our turkey coma, we've had the joy of preparing for the upcoming holiday. Our shopping is done, our presents are wrapped, and the cat has actually managed to not dig into one of them this year! Last Christmas my Mother-In-Law gave us some pancake batter as part of our gift (each year we get something to contribute to our food storage) and it sat under the tree for a week without Emma even looking at it; then one day, we walk in the front door and there are white paw prints all over the floor, and a white cat (who is normally black) sitting on a pile of flour.
This year, our biggest battle with the pets has come in the form of our dog Iola. We recently decided to purchase a new love-seat and chair for our front room, and we wanted to make this the couch that our dog would not be allowed to get on. Sure enough, she was attracted to the couch almost instantly, and we had to do some major training to break her of that habit. Fortunately for us, it's easy to tell when the dog has been on the couch, as she leaves a pretty sizable drool stain when she gets off.
Along with our new couch and chair (which I contend, is the most comfortable recliner I've sat in,) we also invested in an end-table to go between the two. Our cat, who is by far the most jumpy animal in the world, quickly started investigating the new table and furniture. She found that she could comfortably fit underneath the table, with minimal clearance between her head and the drawer above. Unfortunately for Emma, Mrs. Nutz grabbed at her tail, causing Emma to jump about 10 feet when she had a 2 inch clearance. After we heard the loud thump of Emma hitting the underside of the table, we both laughed while the cat ran away and sulked for a while. Fortunately for us, the cat knows nothing about retribution, so I think we'll be okay to keep startling her for our amusement.
Speaking of new furniture, our local RC Willey must love having us around by now. Last Saturday Mrs. Nutz posted on Facebook that she had a fire in the oven, and apparently some people thought she was kidding. To set the record straight, we did manage to set our oven on fire. It wasn't by any means a huge fire, and we were able to stop it before the fire alarms even went off. Where we ran into trouble was that we used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and after we did that we were informed that the chemicals in the extinguisher could damage the element in the oven. We tried cleaning the oven, but were never able to get rid of the extinguisher smell and smoke, so we decided to run to RC Willey and buy a new one.
The oven we had came with the house when we bought it, and Mrs. Nutz has wanted to get replace it for a while now, so this really was nothing more than a convenient reason to go and buy a new better oven; however I jokingly tell people that I think she started the fire on purpose just so that she could get a new one.
Well, the tree is trimmed, the house is ready, and outside we have the return of the big inflatable rodent. Mickey once again graces our front yard, and this year we took proper precautions with our exterior illumination to ensure that it can withstand wind and snow. Last year Mickey never quite inflated properly, and the wind kept knocking over the tree we placed on the front porch, eventually destroying the base of it. This year we bought a new tree, and I bolted that thing to the ground so that it can't go anywhere. Mickey still inflates a little odd, but that can be attributed to the foot of snow outside, and not an error in my construction.
I've also been pleased that Emma has stayed (for the most part) out of our Christmas Village. Last year it took everything I could think of to try and keep her from playing Godzilla cat in Mickey's Toon Town, but this year she seems to be otherwise occupied. She might actually deserve the stuffed mouse that we bought her from Ikea.
Well, it seems about time that I end this post and bid you all a very Merry Christmas. The title of this post comes from the fact that as I type this, Mrs. Nutz is in bed watching A Christmas Story. It's one of those classic movies that just makes the season a little brighter.
From all of us in the Nutz house, to all of you, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
