I simply solved the problem. We needed a coffin... Er, a tree. There are no lots open on Christmas Eve. Lewis burned down my tree so I replaced it as best I could. Voilà.

So things have been busy around here.  Our game at Suwannee was canceled this weekend due to the weather.  It was cold and rainy here, and apparently was so all through the night in Live Oak, because the field was under water.  Of course, I find this out on the drive on I-10- close to Perry.  It sort of sucked for the JV girls and the Varsity girls since they had to be at the highschool at 745 to catch the bus.  This pretty much bums me out because we're 2-10-1.  Every game gives us a chance of digging out to .500.  But it is what it is.  Stupid weather.  Note to self: Talk to Kelly the Baller and make her fix that for the rest of the season!

To recap: The Bishop-Royses are going to play a game this holiday called "How many people can we fit into Dave and Jessi's House?"  Its great fun for all!!  We've got my Aunt Judy coming from Washington, Mom and Dad from the 239, NiCody and the kids from Texas and Royse's parents and Aunt Rosie.  So obviously the house needs to be cleaned, and I choose to procrastinate by doing crafts.  Yay!!   I bet you didnt know this: but there are some people that decorate the hell out of their houses at Christmas time.  Like LH and DH.  I only know this second hand from Julia- but they really do it up.  Then last night, Dave and I went to a holiday party at his coworker's house- it was awesome.  Like the house fell out of the Christmas Tree and hit every Christmas branch on the way down and fell into a pile of Christmas. 

So- since I can't be productive in the locked-in-my-office-writing-brilliant-papers-pimping-data-and-being-an-awesome-researcher sort of way, I have taken to decorating the house festively with Nico.  A sampling of our work:

I saw this and was floored, because three quarters of the Christmas ornaments that I got down from the attic and unwrapped where those glass ball ornaments.  Which I like, but only if I am going to do a tree that is only glass ornaments.  Otherwise, they look too random.  So I thought about taking them to Goodwill when I found a blog post about doing this with your old ornaments.  Of course, the point is to use up stuff that you already have.... I only had enough to cover about 80 percent of the foam wreath I had to buy.  So that was kind of a sustainability fail.  But it looks cool!! (Note to self: before you whip out your glue gun and proceed to copy my awesomeness, be advised that this project requires hot glue and its a pain in the ass... and that I fully expect to be picking up broken glass ornaments off the ground for the next two weeks.)

We also did this Christmas card wreath.  I have a wonderful bell wreath that I got a couple of years ago, that I absolutely adore on the door.  Every year, its about the first thing that goes up, somewhere on or near December 10.  And Dave takes it down on December 11.  Then I put it back up- is there anything better than the sound of jingle bells?  Apparently, yes, the sound of silence, because then Dave takes it down.  AGAIN.  He is pretty ANTI.  So I decided to fulfill the wreath need with something functional: 

This week I have been painting clothespins green, in order to make the above wreath- which you attach Christmas cards to... which I love, because I like displaying the cards, but dont ever know what is the best way. Since going to the crafts store is kind of a production and since I am trying to be all sustainable and whatnot, I am trying hard to use items that I already have this holiday, for decorating, wrapping, etc. 

So Nico and I have been working on this wreath, which is made mostly from items that I already had (except for the green paint and the red pony beads).  Its a little droopier than I would like, mostly because I destroyed my wire cutters trying to cut coat hanger for this project... so I ended up twisting floral wire together to make the body of the wreath.  This has worked pretty good for us- he sits pretty well in his bumpo seat for 15-20 minutes at a time, as long as I am standing up and moving around.  He takes it all in- watching me cook, do dishes, fold laundry, paint a bunch of clothespins, etc.  So far, he's not particularly interested in watching me write job market letters.  JOB MARKET: FAIL!

But, on the upside- Nico is starting at the FSU Infant and Toddler Center in January.  So I will have some time to devote to dissertating and job searches.  He is definitely going to be a hot mess up in there!  His schedule, as it were, includes cat naps in the car to Wakulla, eating every 2-4 hours (as he feels like), and me cuddling with him for inordinate amounts of time during the day.  Needy Momma's boy?  Yes, indeed.  My apologies to the girls that have to take care of him! Awesome!!