Look! Fun Things!

Well, I’m writing this at 4:24 in the afternoon, and while I don’t mean to brag, I am already in my pajamas. Alex is with his buddies down the street, and strangely enough, he didn’t ask me if I wanted to hang out with them and share some passing tips as well as my thoughts about playing defense in the red zone. Imagine that.

(Okay. It is now 5:51. But my friend Elise called and made me laugh until I wheezed, and then A. got home, and I’m just now sitting down again while we wait for D. to get home.)

(Not that anybody cares, of course.)

(I just enjoy over explaining.)

Anyway, I feel like there’s been some Christmas progress this last week. I mean, there hasn’t been any improvement on Christmas itself because, well, JESUS, but there’s been progress in the sense that my friend Alison decorated my front door and my mailbox, and I have finished almost all of my Christmas shopping – I just have two more gifts to buy. I still have two or three more things I’d like to do as far as decorating goes, so hopefully I’ll get there. Or maybe I won’t. But my front door is pretty, amen.

Anyhoo.

I’m sure most of y’all saw this yesterday, but just in case you didn’t, Melanie’s new book, The Antelope in the Living Room, is available for pre-order, and OH, WHAT A DELIGHT IT IS.

I read it back in the summer, and I laughed and clapped my hands and wiped away a few tears, too. It’s so stinkin’ good. I will save ALL MY WORDS for closer to its release date, but if you are looking for a fun Christmas gift for someone who loves to laugh (and who gets that while yes, marriage is a serious commitment and a covenant relationship and about fifteen kinds of hilarious just because it always consists of two people who are bringing all sorts of individual crazy to the union), Antelope is the answer.

There’s even a free, printable greeting card that you can wrap for Christmas since the book doesn’t ship until February 4th. Or you could do like I did today and put the gift card in a plain white envelope and then write FANCY GIFT WRAPPING on the front of the envelope because you are terrible with details. Like remembering to wrap a gift.

Also – another fun option – my friend Mary Allison has designed a darlin’ line of t-shirts called Be..Now. She got the name from an aunt who always ends phone conversations by saying something like “Be sweet now” or “Be good now” (in an Alabama accent that’s so strong that it makes me sound like a news anchor in Minnesota, no less). Mary Allison has taken her aunt’s expression one step further, and the results are adorable.

I love the Christmas ones…

…and I imagine we all have at least one person in our families who could wear this one with pride.

I think my favorite is Be Peaceful Now.

There are so many cute designs – great for all ages – and if you want to make sure you have a some t-shirts for Christmas gifts (or a cute one to wear Christmas morning), you can order online – or email me and I’ll send you a number so you can order by phone to make sure your shipment will get to you in time. MA and her mama will be mighty glad to help you.

All of this shipping talk has reminded me that I have a story from today’s trip to the mail / shipping store. I thought I would type it all out in a post, but maybe I’ll just tell it when Mel and I do a podcast this week. There’s a special Christmas edition on the way, and I know that there are probably six or possibly seven of you who can hardly wait.

Merry merry, y’all!