We won!!

By 21 points.

If you look to the right at the picture of Sean Taylor, his number was 21.

It means something. Clinton thinks so too.

Tough challenge next week, we go to Seattle.

Let's GO SKINS!!

Fandom

Anyone who visits this blog regularly knows that I'm a football fan. Not just a "sorta" fan, I'm the kind of fan who can identify any Redskins player on the field and tell you what position they play. I can identify most defensive coverages the Redskins use. I can diagram the Cover 2 that the secondary uses and what the role of each player on the field should be. That's not bragging, it's just the *kind* of fan I am. When I'm a fan, I throw myself in totally. I read about seven websites daily for football news, not just Redskins news, but all teams. I play fantasy football, I play in a Pick 'Ems league. Next year I'll be commissioner of the pick 'ems league at my current job. Flat out, I love football.

This weekend, my beloved team will be playing for their chance to go to the playoffs. While there is no part of me that believes that the 'Skins are going to go to the Super Bowl. The playoffs are enough for me. The Redskins have suffered through terrible tragedy this season. They've lost a future hall of famer and a beloved member of the team in the cruelest way possible. The victory to me would be making it to the playoffs. That's all. So, on Sunday afternoon, H. and I will bundle up (it's supposed to rain/sleet and be freezing cold) and head to FedEx field to cheer our team on. They have a good shot at winning, but this game is made that much more intense for us as we're playing the Dallas Cowboys. There are not many more storied rivalries on professional sports than Dallas/Washington. We'll be thrilled just to be there to see the action.

So, think of us on Sunday. Freezing our tails off, and yelling as loud as we can. And, everyone, except you, Meghan, root for the Skins! We need this this year.

Walking Talking Disaster

Yesterday, my family celebrated Christmas. We started the Boxing Day celebration when my nieces and nephews were young because we determined that a good night's sleep after Christmas made the kids a little less bratty. It's always been a nice tradition because it means that Christmas day is mellow and easy and that the celebration gets drawn out a little bit.

Anyway, I came home Christmas after going to see National Treasure II: Book of Secrets (it was BIG fun, BTW), and did a bunch of cooking. I made chocolate pies and pigs-in-a-blanket and pulled together the items for cheesy potatoes. So yesterday when it was time to go, I carefully situated the pies, the potatoes and the appetizer in the car. I grabbed a pair of pants I needed hemmed to be dropped off, I grabbed my coat, my purse and my car keys and zipped out of the house. I drove the 45 minutes to my brother's house and realized that I'd forgotten all of the presents in my bedroom at home. LE SIGH. So, I turned around and headed out. On my way, I called Sara and told her what I'd done. And Brad, my marvelous, darling brother-in-law offered to drive to my house and get the gifts. What a doll! It was an hour and a half out of his day. He's just the best.

So then, when we went to open presents, it turns out that I'd gotten my brother a gift that he really liked, a gift card to REI. Here's the thing. I'd actually drawn my sister-in-law Denise's name. So she got nothing. Sheesh. What a ditz!

Then, when I got home last night, I realized that I'd left the gifts I'd received at my brother's house.

Honest to God, what a wreck I am! I can't remember the last time I was so discombobulated. I am really tired, but goodness, I'm not usually this disorganized. I was incredibly embarrassed to have misread the holiday gift draw and not gotten Denise anything. What a disaster! Thank goodness she was lovely and gracious about it. At least I already thought of something to get her. So, I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

The Bet

Sara, Meghan and I have a bet going.

Check here for all the gory details.

Merry Christmas

I'm going to take a break from blogging through the holidays. I wish you and yours the very best for a happy, safe, memorable holiday season!

See you in the New Year!

TMI

I'm a nosy girl. In fact, I embrace my nosiness. I happen to be someone who is never, ever offended if someone says to me, "Kati, that's none of your business." I figure if I don't ask, I don't know, and that I need to be grown up enough to take it when someone says that something isn't any of my business.

I'm also guilty of the classic "over-share." I do sometimes go one step too far in sharing either my personal business or something that I find amusing that others might not. But generally, only my closest friends are privy to this. Amy occasionally gets to suffer through a discussion about the horrifying "porn-star" quality of my most recent bikini wax. Or some other nonsense that is definitely an overshare. Sara also gets to hear about things she'd probably much prefer not to -- but hey, we're talking about my best friend and my sister. Of course, neither are afraid to say to me, "Kati, that's too much information." And I don't take it personally. But when you're talking to me, if I preface something by saying, "This is probably too much information" you can bet that it will be.

I am a member of several online communities. One thing I would never do is share my personal, private business with the community. The reason I bring this up is that on one of my more peripheral communities today, a woman shared that she found out this weekend that her boyfriend is sleeping with someone else. Here's the thing -- none of us really knows each other. And IMHO, this is a personal, private matter that should never be talked about in the "heat" of the issue. First, it made me uncomfortable to read about her problem. I'm not sure what to say to her (I basically said, I'm so sorry, {hugs}). Second, it's just...too personal. You know? I don't know, maybe I'm reading this wrong. As I said, it's one of my more peripheral communities. I adore the women at two other communities that I frequent and maybe wouldn't be so shocked if one of them came online and said something like this. But frankly, they wouldn't. I think most of them realize that this sort of thing is best shared on a private loop. You can reach out to your close friends and ask for support, certainly I'd be thrilled to give it. But I just don't think you air it in a public forum like that, because for every person who posts on the site, there are probably six who never do, but read every day. It's just a fact of cyber-life. To me, that's incentive enough not to do it.

It's why I never blog about deeply personal issues here without permission. Yes, I blogged about Rachael's loss of Hannah in July. But that was with Rach's full approval. And I'd never air private, personal issues about my own life.

I don't know, what do you guys think?

Would you/Do you air personal matters in the cyber-communities you belong to? Are there circumstances under which you would?

Mr. Incredible Turns 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jack!

Atonement

I went today to see Atonement, which is the latest Working Title release. I am definitely a "ho" for Working Title. They've produced such movies as Four Weddings & A Funeral, Love, Actually and one of my all time favorite movies, Pride & Prejudice.

I hadn't read the book, which is a Pulitzer Prize winner, written by Ian McEwan. But I'll set up the movie like so: Set in England just before WWII, Briony Tallis is an eleven year old aspiring writer. She comes from a wealthy British family. One day, Briony spots out the window a scene unfolding between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie, the housekeeper's son, who has enjoyed a close relationship with the children of the Tallis family. Briony completely misinterprets the scene between Cecilia and Robbie, and that mistake sets into motion a course of events that deeply impacts all three of them.

I'll say this about the movie -- it's gorgeous. A valentine to the British countryside. On top of that, it features wonderful understated performances by Keira Knightly and James McAvoy, who I only knew from The Chronicles of Narnia. But the star of the movie is Saoirse Ronan, the actress who plays a young Briony. She's phenomenal, and terrifying in the role as a precocious young girl who changes all of the main characters' lives forever. The movie isn't my usual type. There's no happy ending. But it's an impactful movie, and one that I throughly enjoyed and will be routing for in the Oscar race.

I'd give the movie a solid B+.

Have you seen Atonement? If not, what was the last movie you saw that you really enjoyed?

2007 - My Year in Review

So I decided it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to look back on my year and try to identify one or two important things that happened each month. It's a good thing, I think to look back -- just not a good idea to stare.

January - H., Tracy and I decide to go on The Diet. I begin at 207 pounds. H. goes on NutriSystem, Tracy does Jenny Craig, I go the Weight Watchers route. H. & I get rid of all illicit food in the house and it's ON!

February - My gorgeous, adorable kitty ZutAlors goes, quite unexpectedly, to heaven. I'm heartbroken, but sure that I made the best decision for Zooty. But I spent most of the month, truly sad. Diet is still going well, I've dropped about 15 pounds. H. and I are in deep competition over who can lose the weight the fastest.

March - My 36th birthday is spent working my tail off at TEI's MidYear conference at the Grand Hyatt in Washington. My boss, Deborah, does a great job though of making the day special for me. All in all, it wasn't ideal, but it was a good day. Diet is still going well, I've dropped another 10 pounds. I'm now a size 14!

April - I went to Austin to visit my cousin Meghan. Her new baby, Kai, had just arrived and I had loads of fun hogging the baby the whole entire time. Plus, Gabriel, her little boy is hysterical and her hubby, Tony is really great. I miss having my cousin close enough to visit often. She's one of my favorite people!

May - Jamie Clark from Defenders of Wildlife calls me to talk to me about a position she has open there. She lets me know that she'd like me to come work for her.

June - I start work at Defenders of Wildlife as the Executive Assistant to the President. Also, I go with Sara and her family to Busch Gardens, we have a terrific time. Diet is still great, if a lot slower, I'm down to a size 12!

July - Both the bitter and the sweet. In July, my dear friend Rachael loses her daughter, Hannah, in a tragic swimming accident. But in wonderful news, my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in a great, great weekend that we all spend together.

August - I go with three close girlfriends on a fantastic trip to Puerto Rico and a cruise. We have a wonderful time, despite trying to outrun a hurricane. Also, Stella arrives!

September - I have my yearly physical. As a result of my diet, my cholesterol has dropped 60 points and I'm taken off of blood pressure meds! Amazing! I'm a believer now. At work, we have a huge gala dinner, which I play a large part in. It's a wonderful success.

October - My good friend Tracy goes off to Africa for six months. Stella has her big surgery and has a tough recovery.

November - My niece, Rebecca's volleyball team wins the VA State Volleyball championship. H. and I host a Thanksgiving dinner at our house for 19 of our friends. My family celebrates Thanksgiving at my house.

December - So far so good. Altogether, I've lost 53 pounds. I'm about 4 pounds from my goal weight. I'm going to end up being a smallish size 12, which I'm really happy with.

Next year...it's all about exercise. I'm gonna get the rest of this weight off, but more than that, I'm gonna get healthy!!

Friday Fifteen

Here are the fifteen things I love best about the Christmas holiday:

1-Being with my family.
2-The sausage, egg and cheese casserole that my sister makes for Christmas breakfast.
3-Seeing all of the presents under the Christmas tree, and of course, talking about how obscene it is.
4-Hearing Silent Night sung at church while you pass the Light to the person next to you. And that hushed moment as the last notes of the carol fade away and the church is still and quiet lit only by candlelight.
5-Stealing candy from my nieces' Christmas stockings. Especially the peppermint Kisses.
6-Baking chocolate cake and other treats for Christmas.
7-Going to see a movie on Christmas afternoon.
8-Giving the perfect gift and having someone be thrilled with it.
9-Receiving the perfect gift, especially when it's unexpected.
10-Decorating the Christmas tree, and enjoying it once it's done.
11-Christmas dinner with my family, there's always so much food, there's no way we can eat it all.
12-Opening the presents slowly, savoring each one.
13-The craziness of our whole family gathering, which is loud and boisterous and full of laughter.
14-Getting something new to wear for Christmas.
15-Hearing about everyone else's Christmas holiday.

What do you love best about the holiday season?

Victim of My Own Neuroses

woof

I look up from the book I'm sunk about ears deep in. (A Golden Touch by Tom & Sharon Curtis, if anyone cares -- it rocks!)

woof

I look over onto my couch. There she lies. Ears perked forward, looking at me expectantly, tail wagging softly.

woof

If you know Roxie, you know my girl can bark. Yap, even. But she's not barking, she's kind of chuffing at me -- and I know what it means. I look up at the clock on the wall, yep, sure enough, it's 9:00pm on the nose. Time for Roxie to go outside and do her business one last time. She's absolutely right.

See, doxies are famously routine driven. They crave routine, and like small toddlers, are completely thrown for a loop when their schedules are off. Roxie knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt that at 9:00 she needs to go outside, do her business, come back in, dive into her crate, and wait patiently while I brush my teeth, take my contacts out and turn the lights out. Once I've done that, she'll get two small treats, and the pillowcase will drop over the front of her crate. It's bedtime.

The thing that kills me, is that I'm a victim of my own neurosis. I'm someone who is extremely routine oriented as well. I've often joked that if a tree fell on the road I take to work, I'd have to turn around a go home, I don't know any other way to go. You'll never hear the words, "I wonder where this road goes" come out of my mouth. I just don't care.

And pretty much every night I follow the same routine. Apparently, I've passed on my neuroses to my dog.

How 'bout you? Are you a routine driven person? Or are you totally fine with varying things?

Meme from Stacy

Stacy tagged me:

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:


Hmmm 10 years ago I would have been 26.


1. Finalizing my divorce.

2. Working at H&W Systems in South Carolina.

3. Dating a guy I thought was utterly perfect for me, who it turned out couldn't have been more wrong.

4. Living in an awesome two bedroom apartment that cost me, wait for it...$645/mo.

5. Driving a brand new Honda Prelude that I loved. It was one of the first in Charlotte, NC where I lived at the time and I thought I was the coolest thing on wheels.



5 Things on my T0-Do List today:

1. Update my blog.

2. Give my boss estimated budget numbers for next year's gala.

3. Do my question of the day over at RNTV.

4. Head over to Lifetime.tv to see what's going on.

5. Clean the cat box...sexy, huh?



5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Quit my job.

2. Hook my family up for life, if possible.

3. Fund important work that I believe in. Especially the environment, Darfur and kids causes.

4. Buy a couple of great houses in fun locations and have my friends and family visit lots.

5. Travel all kinds of great places.



5 Things I'll never wear again (or have never worn):

1. Any kind of fluorescent color socks that match my sweater.

2. Rubber bracelets of any kind.

3. Blue eyeliner.

4. Velour shirts.

5. Jordache jeans



5 Favorite Toys:

1. Laptop

2. iPod

3. DVD Player

4. phone

5. digital camera

Heeeeere's Johnny

He's a damn fine looking cover boy, eh?
A little grungy and that smoking up a storm thing is a bit of a turn off.
But the man certainly has been whacked by the hottie stick!

Holiday Parties...Part II

So, my holiday party was Friday night. It was really fun. Great food, great drinks, great decorations...great dancing.

Oh yes, we had a DJ at our holiday party. Don't get me wrong, the DJ was great, the music was fun, and my co-workers -- well, they dance. A lot.

The DJ had us doing all kinds of weird line dances. Not just the obligatory Electric Slide (which I had one co-worker say to me after the song, "I rocked that!") Oh yeah -- you rocked it. I learned how to do the "hustle slide" and some other dance that I didn't know but that lasted about 25 minutes. Honestly, I'm not sure what's more disturbing, co-workers rocking out to stupid line dancing songs or watching them slow dance...with each other. Creepy.

So, my question to you guys is, do you dance at holiday parties? With co-workers? If so, do you sit out the "organized" dances like the electric slide? Also, what is it about the electric slide that makes every goober in the world with no rhythm jump out on the dance floor? Personally, I think it's the "boogie-woogie-woogie-woogie."

Holiday Themed Clothing

So, my company's holiday party is tonight. It'll be a really nice affair (I know, 'cause I planned it). Anyway, my departmental VP has decreed that our department should wear "holiday themed" sweaters.

Yeah.

My idea of a holiday themed sweater is a red cardigan with a candy cane pin that I bought six years ago from Target for about $2 pinned to it. At Halloween (which I've already said I hate), I wear ghost earrings. That's it. I do NOT do holiday themed clothing.

That being said, my mom does. She often rocks a Christmas sweatshirt or blouse or something. And she looks adorable. I have no objection per se to holiday themed clothing...on other people, you know, like my mom or kindergarten teachers.

So my question is, "holiday themed" clothing...yes? Or No?

My Favorite Reads This Year

I've been lucky enough to discover and read a slew of terrific books this year.

Here's a recap of what I've read and loved:

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Easily my favorite book of the year. It's the true account of the author's year of recovery after her divorce. She spends that year in Italy, India and Indonesia. It started as a book very similar to my life (I too had an absolute moment of clarity that my marriage was over) and ended by transforming the way I think about faith.

High Noon by Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is absolutely my go-to/favorite author. I can always count on Nora to deliver a story that sucks me in, entertains me, and leaves me heaving a big satisfied sigh. This book is set in Savannah, Georgia and features a love story between a hostage negotiator and a bar owner. What always strikes me about Nora's books is her extremely strong sense of place. She captures the essence of Savannah beautifully.

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
It's difficult for me to chose which of Colleen's series the Gardella Chronicles I like best. I chose this one because it's set in Venice, and heck, I love Italy. Colleen has created a world unlike most of the paranormals I read. The books are well written, inventive, feature a smart and strong heroine who, even though she's a "Regency Miss" isn't missish at all. I also appreciate that Colleen doesn't make it easy on her heroine. Each book has featured difficult decisions for Victoria and painful ramifications. It makes the books unique in the pantheon of para romance.

Lord of the Fading Lands/Lady of Light & Shadow by C.L. Wilson
I don't read fantasy books. Don't really care for them. I've tried a bunch from Lord of the Rings to others. They don't usually speak to me. But these books...these magnificent books! They are truly unique. C.L. takes the time to carefully build layer upon layer to the world she has created. Including language, dress and syntax. Plus, she's very smart in that she stays close enough to what we as romance readers "know" that the world is deeply believable, even while it's fantastic. This all adds up to an incredibly compelling read. I can't believe that I have to wait an entire year to find out what happens next.

Untouched by Anna Campbell
I just finished this book two days ago. It's still festering in my brain. Campbell wrote last year's Claiming the Courtesan, which was one of the most controversial and divisive books of the year. Personally, I struggled with Courtesan's story, while being deeply appreciative of Campbell's deft writing and strong characterization. Untouched features more of her wonderful prose and I think cements her among my favorite of those romance authors unafraid to "go there" in their books. Her books are dark and sumptuous. Untouched is interesting because while the setting is extremely dark, her hero, Matthew is kind of the beacon of light in the story, a very savvy move on her part, since I think the story would have been too upsetting otherwise.

There are more, I'm sure, but these are the ones I can think of right now. Hope you might find something here that seems interesting to you.

Little Holiday Meme

I borrowed/stole this from Stacy. Thanks Stace!

What is your favorite Christmas romance to re-read each year? Uck. I hate holiday themed romances.

What is your favorite Christmas movie/show? Well, it's on at Christmas, so we'll say The Sound of Music and I love The Nutcracker Suite w/Mikhail Baryshnikov when it's shown on TV.

What is your favorite Christmas cookie? Thumbprint cookies w/chocolate kisses in the middle.

When do you start Christmas shopping? Apparently not yet, since I haven't bought a damn thing.

Do you regift? See blog below.

When do you get your Christmas tree? We have a fake one. It went up last weekend. It'll stay up until the weekend after New Year's.

What is your favorite Christmas song? I should say Christmas in Killarney in honor of my nieces, but really it's Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Wrapping presents, Love it or Hate it? Hate it. My presents always look like a small child wrapped them.

Who is the hardest person to buy for? My sister. She's extremely picky.

Christmas tree: real or artificial? Real pine gives me hives and makes me really stuffy, so fake for me.

Hey! It's That Guy!

Recently a friend invited me over to watch a movie I'd really had no interest in watching before. It was Match Point, directed by Woody Allen. Set in London, it's the tale of a social climbing tennis pro, who befriends a well-to-do British guy, marries said WTD British guy's sister, and then begins to conduct an affair with WTD British guy's girlfriend. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who frankly is a train wreck of a guy in real life but a terrific actor, plays the tennis pro. He's wonderful in the role. All skeezy and desperate. As his world becomes darker and darker, you can practically smell the desperation coming off of him. He tells lie upon lie until he's feels he's been forced into making some really difficult decisions. The movie is totally un-Woody Allen. Plus, if you love London, Woody does for London what he's been doing to New York for so long. The movie is a valentine to the city.

But the reason I wrote this post is that I had one of those "Hey! It's That Guy!" moments during the movie. Well-to-do British guy is played by Matthew Goode. I knew I'd seen him before, but just couldn't put my finger on where. He's this terrifically good looking guy who generally plays a second fiddle guy a movie. I soon realized that I'd seen him in Chasing Liberty (ok, I'm not proud, but I loves me some teen angst movies) and also in Imagine Me & You (small indy film, wonderful and weird). Anyway, that is to say, that he's a great actor, and really good looking. He should be a leading man, and probably will be some day.

Do you have any "Hey! It's That Guy!" actors?? Who are the actors who you recognize, but don't really know who they are or where you've seen them before?

The Art of the ReGift

When my Gram'ma was alive, near the end of her life, she gave each of her grandchildren one ratty hand towel that smelled distinctly of mothballs as a Christmas gift. Each towel had written in ball point pen on it "With Love From Gram'ma."

My Gram'ma was an incredible character, and this was one of her very last Christmases on earth. I adored her, and yet, I couldn't help but laugh. The gift was hilarious. I used my "with love from Gram'ma" gift towel to dust with for the longest time.

I'm a firm believer in regifting. If I don't like the gift, or won't use it, what harm is there in giving it to someone who will? Now granted, I wouldn't give you a handtowel. But I gave my sister my iPod mini when I got a new one. And I have it on good authority that she likes it very much. Then again, I don't try to pass off a regift as a newly bought gift. I didn't wrap up the mini and give it to Sara as her Christmas gift. I just gave it to her.

Have you ever regifted? Or been the obvious recipient of a regift?

Another Holiday Tradition

Enclosed in the Christmas card sent out by my parents every year is the dreaded Holiday Letter. Now, as one of their children, we don't get a copy of the letter. But man, do I love to read it (it can generally be stolen from my sister's in-laws, or my cousin Meghan's folks). Now, my dad is a professional writer, so the letter is one of those general newsie letters that tells what my folks have been up to and of course, an update on what we, their kids and grandkids have been doing - and it's monstrously well written, of course.

I receive every year several Christmas newsletters. I'll tell the truth. I enjoy reading them from my friends who I don't necessarily keep in close touch with. From the ones I do keep in touch with, I find them kind of hilarious. It just seems like such a strange thing to encapsulate your entire year into six pithy paragraphs. Some of them are vastly entertaining. Some are cheesy. Some are sad. And they all seem to end with a cheery greeting of hope and prosperity for the new year. It's kind of a weird phenomenon, don't you think?

I certainly have no room to be talking since I can't be bothered to do Christmas cards. I realized this one year when I opened my gift wrap box and found two years worth of Christmas cards, signed, addressed and never sent. That's pathetic. So, I stopped going through the pretend motions of sending out cards.

Of course, my patheticness doesn't stop me from being judgy. *SNORT*

So, tell...do you send Christmas cards? Do you write the Christmas letter? If so, what do you put in it?

Holiday-palooza

This morning I was catching up on my blog reading and found Sara's blog about their holiday traditions. I'm extremely blessed to be very close to my sister and her family and that they include me in a huge variety of activities their family does, including vacations, Christmas, holidays, and the yearly jaunt to Busch Gardens.

Our mom loves the Christmas holidays and does her best to go all out. I have wonderful memories of decorating the Christmas tree, baking pie crusts and cookies, of Sara's girls coming to Mom and Dad's on Christmas morning and of beautiful, moving Christmas Eve services. All of that combines to make Christmas my very favorite holiday of the year. I love giving (and receiving, if we're being honest) gifts.

But my favorite tradition involves Christmas Eve.

Generally I go to church with my brother, Christopher's family. Then I head home and pack up Roxie's crate and an overnight bag for me, and await Sara's call. See, her family is at my brother-in-law, Brad's family celebration. When they leave the Short's, Sara calls me and I head out. I usually get to their house about 9:00 or so. When the kids were little they were all about showing me their presents that they got at the celebration, and this tradition has continued. Generally they have new PJs and slippers and something else really cool. The girls change into their PJs and we all settle onto the couches in Sara's living room in the dark to enjoy the Christmas tree lights and chat. Abby and Brad prepare the plate for Santa and the reindeer (yes, Abby's 14, but we still do that). Sometime around 10:30 or so, Brad send the girls to bed. Then we get to work. We set out the Christmas stockings for the girls, wrap any last minute presents, and place presents in each girl's designated spot. Shortly after that, Brad, Sara and I head off to bed. The girls are getting older, so maybe we won't have to wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning, but it still ends up being an early morning, Christmas Day. As the girls have gotten older, we wait impatiently for the grandparents to come over, and then we begin to slowly open presents. If we're doing it right, it's 10:30 or 11:00 before we're done. Then we eat a delicious, if eclectic, Christmas breakfast of blueberry muffins, sausage and egg casserole, and Brad's mom makes creamed chip beef (or SOS) for Brad, his dad, and Meghan.

It doesn't really sound all that special, but it's literally my favorite night and morning of the year. Like I said, I'm blessed to have a sister who is so generous with her family.

What's your favorite holiday tradition? Have you started any new traditions? Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

New Time Sucker

If you haven't visited "I Can Has Cheezburger," do. It's a time sucker.