Happy Things

 Here's a picture of Olivia looking like a porcelain doll. 

I've finished the last of my weddings for the year and have three weeks "off" to bake things and write stories and find ways to outrage Brett. I've put "off" in quotes because even though everyone around me scoffs at my working hours and chuckles when I'm relived to be free, I still have emails and proposals and bride meetings during my breaks, so there. 

Somehow I've been added to a list of contributing writers for that newspaper I was telling you about. I didn't sign up for this, nor did anyone ask me first, nor do they pay me, but they send me assignments and deadlines and I'm not entirely sure that I'm happy about it. It is a fortuitous happenstance and that's not lost on me. It's how the lazier version of me wanted things to go in life (that whole "opportunities falling into your lap" bit) but I don't have the time, or perhaps ability, to do the job as well as I'd like to. I wouldn't have taken on a monthly column writing job with the mix of things we've got going on at the moment. Now I know I just pointed out that I'm free for three weeks but that doesn't mean I'm watching reality tv and eating ice cream. Also, they've been making me interview business people for the column and I really don't like doing that. But I'll keep writing for them because I'm too polite to tell them that it's an inconvenience. However, in honor of the holidays, I interviewed my lovely friend Chelsea about her cookie business. You can read it here if you're interested. 

Pippi has reached a balance of pill-popping and personality and she's back to laying on me whenever possible. The more uncomfortable I am, the more she likes it.

She is well-known (and loved) at the vet's office by now and will strut right in to get her blood drawn because she's a seasoned pro. She's the most interesting mix of fearless and skittish. 

Grace is still indifferent towards existence, but she's sweet when Brett is around.

We met some new friends while celebrating Ellie's birthday...

and made Erik come over to try Brett's "Lee-inspired" eggnog and these molasses cookies we've discovered. He left happy about it.

Something came over me and I went berserk on Cyber Monday. In previous posts I've mentioned the inability of any direct descendent of Sadie Union's to pass up a deal. Now that the phones and computers keep track of what you're perusing about, they all teased and seduced me with major blowout sale prices. I bought lots of things, which is something I rarely do, and I've been staring through the window, watching for the mail lady everyday since. I'm embarrassed for her to notice the extreme uptick in packages. "What a greedy little troll," she will think about me as she heaves a hefty thigh out of her mail truck and waddles up the path to our front door. (Am I being defensive?)

I take a lot of pride in my thriftyness. I'm also proud to be empathetic and accommodating, and I always thought these would be the traits of mine that my future husband would really admire. But in reality, Brett wishes I would throw away the "rags" that I wear, buy some clean new clothes, and quit being so selfless. You just can't please some people. 

He was proud to hear that I cracked open my wallet and he's been overly approving of my new duds just to prove a point. It all looks ridiculous and we both know it. I also ordered a small piece of furniture and didn't tell him about it. It gets here on Friday and I'm 92% sure that he won't like it. 

I had also figured that my future husband would leave the "nesting" to me. Do you think Chris Union cared how Mom arranged the furniture? Do you think Chris Union even knows what color the walls are in his own bedroom? Crap no! Earlier this year he complimented a "new" painting Mom had hung. "It's been there 15 years," she replied.

Therefore, I learned that men don't care about these things and I have free rein over interior design. I was shocked to find that Brett has opinions on this matter (I genuinely asked him if he was in the closest - he resented the question and continued to date me anyways) and frequently protests my decorative additions. The green velvet piece of furniture that arrives on Friday is sure to spark holiday outrage.