She's a mean one... Mrs. Grinch.

I'm not really a festive holiday kind of gal.

I don't HATE holidays, exactly, I just am not really that fond of them.  When I was a single girl with cats, I never could be bothered to put up a Christmas tree.  I was usually too drunk too busy with work and other projects, plus it just seems like a whole lot of work.  Put it up. Decorate it.  Put presents under it.  Undecorate it.  Take it down.   Rinse.  Repeat.

Some holidays are ok.  I like New Year's ok.  New Year's Eve is my best friend's birthday, and New Year's Day marks another retail Christmas that I survived.  I like the Fourth of July, too.  I mean really, who doesn't like blowing things up?  But Easter eggs stain my hands, trick or treating seems a little too much like soliciting and/or begging for food, and Valentines Day is just a made up day to try to see who loves you, I mean loves you enough to BUY you something.  The thought of a kid's birthday party makes me want to drink gin straight from the cat dish.

But the year zj was born, I thought I should at least TRY to participate in the holiday festivities, and by participate I mean I told RJ that he needed to procure and decorate a tree for us.  So, one Friday night at around midnight, RJ stumbles into the house with the biggest damn tree I've ever seen, complete with lights, decorations, etc.  See, Friday is poker night, and after swindling some poor fools out of their lunch money, he went to Wal-Mart and bought a tree for us.  What a good provider my husband is...

Anyway, back to me.  Not that zj is getting older, and watches enough tv that it's getting harder to lie to him about things wiser, we have to really go to greater lengths to celebrate the holidays.  So yesterday, on one of my two days off work between now and Christmas, we did this:

There were many questions for Santa, along with some talk of reindeer poop.  RJ also put up the tree and decorated it while I was busy with pretty much anything I could think of laundry and dinner.

See, I'm not a terrible Mama.

Really.