It's that time of year again! Christmas! We got our tree last night, and it's purdy, but man, they've gone up on our prices since last year (who hasn't?), but that's alright. She has a personality of her own. She? Yes, she. My tree is a she. :-) We got it all loaded down with lights, garland, beads, bows, ornaments, you name it. It's pretty full. Of course, it's still never quite loaded down enough for me. I will probably hit the after-Christmas sales to buy some more ornaments. The really FUN part is going to be keeping the cats out of it, so the cats will probably have to stay put up in the bedroom until Christmas is over and the tree comes down. The only thing left to do is finish getting the lights up on the house, wrap presents, send out Christmas cards, get the Christmas village set up, paint Jacob's room and get his "new room" set up, take the kids to see Santa, and make fudge & cookies. All of the shopping is done, praise the Lord, the calendar is booked with Christmas functions/parties/get-together's, and so it'll soon be time to just sit back and enjoy this time of year. The commercialism of Christmas can attempt to warp our brains however it may wish, but not me! Sure, everyone likes to get something nice for Christmas, but to me, it's really more about the kids. I just love seeing their little faces light up with excitement. Just observing their expressions when they saw our tree for the first time was priceless, and well worth it.

Speaking of Christmas presents, it sounds like the Memphis Tigers football team might be getting a nice little present...called a trip to Hawaii! Rumor has it that the Tigers will go to the Hawaii Bowl this year. The way most fans see it, after the horrible year of injuries, deaths, setbacks, etc., etc., that this team had this season, they DESERVE a little vacation in paradise. The really cool, interesting, funny part is that out of all the nearby SEC schools, NONE of them are going to a bowl game this time around. Not Ole Miss, not State, not Arkansas, not even Tennessee...but MEMPHIS is! :-)

In basketball news, the Tigers fell to Duke 70 to 67 last Friday...what a heart-attack game THAT was...it was so neck & neck. If DWash would've been 100%, we probably woulda pulled it off, but with that awful thigh bruise he had, it just wasn't gelling for him. That's okay though, because after the next polls were released, we moved UP from #11 in the country to #9. This Saturday we take on Cincinatti, but it just doesn't seem to carry the same nostalgia with Huggy Bear (their long-time coach...Bob Huggins...that got fired...um...resigned? before the season got started this year. I probably won't get to see much or any of that game because I have a wedding to go to tomorrow (if I actually go), and possibly a birthday party after that (if I actually go), so we'll see. Either way, GOOOOO TIGERS!!!