It's beginning to look like we have all the North American woodpeckers apearing in our yard. Latest spotting was a pileated woodpecker. He's huge and flashy and has one of the loudest calls of all the birds. I was really excited to see it pecking on our trees. And, yep, I got a picture of it. As best as I could get.

Heh, heh, gotcha, too, with that catchy title, didn't I?

But, actually, yeh, it is begining to look like Christmas around our house. I wrapped colored mini-lights around the front porch railing yesterday. The plan is to also put colored icicle lights up at the front gutter level. Bill wants them on the back deck railing, too. But the white ones, not the colored. Then, we got out the artificial tree and put it together. Amy unfolded all the branches and I assembled. We've usually had a live tree but I finally got tired of Bill griping about all the needles stuck all over the rug afterwards so I bought an artificial tree last year when it was on sale. It will do. The biggest problem we'll probably have is keeping Addy from undecorating the tree.

This is about as close to Christmas cheer as Bill will get. (Added on graphics--Santa hat & beard, and words on beer bottle--courtesy of Todd Fox, my son-in-law.)

What is it with this Christmas cookie thing every year, too? Yes, I get into doing it although I wonder why it became traditional to make tons of cookies. There's a certain warm and fuzzy feeling when I think about baking Christmas cookies. But Christmas cookies are always my undoing. I eat too many of them. I haven't decided which ones I'll make this year. Not my famous sugar cookies. I'll hold off on those till Addy is old enough to help me with them. They are the most fun for kids what with all the icing to spread on them and then the colorful sprinkles to be creative with. Usually I make spritz cookies. You know the kind that you put through a cookie press. Other than that, I haven't decided which ones to make.

Well, guess that's about all I have to say.