"Kalamity!" Kry Kiddies

HOW DID IT GET TO BE DECEMBER?
HOLY LORD!

We are playing are annual Christmas game - no, not "Replace the Sound Operator for the Christmas Eve Service which is in SEVEN DAYS OH MY LOVING GOD HELP ME" - but instead, "Who Would You Cast in Miracle on 34th Street if you were making it This Year?" I always try to work in serious method actors like Daniel Day Lewis and John C. Reilly.

Every year, I suggest making the Shelhammers a male couple. Those refined, well-dressed men with their bow ties and hats, who speak so precisely and work in retail management - it's not much of a stretch. So I'm forever trying to figure out what man should stand in for Mrs. Shelhammer - you know, the lady whose husband has plied her with triple-strength martinis to get her to consent to have Santa move in? It's my favorite part. This year, I am stumping for Steve Carrell as Mr. Shelhammer who works at Macy's. I haven't decided who the other Mr. Shelhammer should be.

Eric always tries to cast West Wing people. Well, that's just silly.

As for me, I am a writing fool and a knitting fool, and tomorrow I will be a cooking fool as well. Oh - and a Cricut-ing fool, too, like last year. We (I) cut paper shapes, and people use them to make ornaments for the sanctuary Christmas trees. (Plus I cut a bunch of stars and snowflakes for our house.)

Last weekend, Ian seemed to have made HUGE leaps forward in terms of being not merely obedient but actually agreeable. This week, in response to all our praise and irrational exhuberance, he has made Barishnokov-worthy leaps in the other direction.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.