I was waiting in line at the Starbucks drive thru a few days ago after picking up our Christmas cards. When I got to the window to pay, I was told that the car that was two in front of me already paid for me. I was totally surprised. The coffee guy wasn't kidding. In the three seconds I had to think about it, I decided it would be wrong to just drive away and not pay this forward, so I said I would pay for the guy behind me. Turned out I was truly paying it forward because he must have ordered a venti mocha with a triple shot of espresso and an extra shot of mocha because his cost way more than mine would have. Oh well. I think I once read on a coffee cup about this happening. It was pretty cool that it happened to me. I wonder if the guy behind me chose to pay for the person behind him.

I took J out for breakfast this morning because we were dressed and ready to start the day. Darn kid has been waking up earlier and earlier each morning and today was the earliest of all at 5:50. We are getting an alarm clock for his room which we will set for something reasonable (like 6:30 or 7) and he will not be allowed to call for us until then. We'll see how it goes.

J was extremely shy with the waitress at breakfast until she brought us the bill. Then he told her, "You're cute." She died in awwws and it was incredibly cute, but I didn't have the heart to tell her that cute is the word of the week. The sweater I'm wearing today is cute (it's a plain Jane white ribbed v-neck), the cats are cute. Even his milk cup is cute.

He has also been learning his fair share of Christmas songs, which all now come with accompanying drum solos. Our favorites are The Muppets Twelve Days of Christmas, also referred to as "The Bird Song." He loves Frosty the Snowman and uses our own broom as his broomstick to lead us around the house as he sings. He really likes Feliz Navidad, but can't quite say it, so it comes out as "Fleece Naddidad." We've also used the lyrics from Santa Claus is Coming to Town as a bit of a threat when he starts to act up and throw a fit over silly stuff. So far, it's been working like a charm. And because we are listening to all of these songs on the 24 hour Christmas station, he also sings the radio station jingle (Magic 95.5!!!) I think that cracks me up most of all.

I have painters in my house right now. This is very exciting, but it seems that all painters have their quirks. Mine likes to take naps in his truck while his assistant does the work. This bugged me a great deal earlier, but he hasn't taken a lunch break, so I guess it's okay. It was just kind of strange to see him passed out in his beat up jillopy of a vehicle with a book in his lap.

That's about all that's new here. I think I'm going to go and get some Christmas decorations out. We are way behind on that compared to our neighbors, who all decorated their homes and trees the day after Thanksgiving. Hopefully everything will be done by this weekend.