We let Fuller stay up late tonight for two reasons:

He had a late nap and got up after 6 pm.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was on.

Fuller was interested in Charlie Brown, but the commercials were a distraction The tractor beam of the TV let Fuller go and he and started to get into things. We offered him his first taste of egg nog, which he liked, but then got very sad when there was no more in the cup (there wasn’t a lot in there to begin with).

Fuller has no idea that he was given a treat tonight. Staying up late, anything past 8 pm, is a treat in my mind. And the watching of TV, the eggnog… all treats.

But in return I got a kid who said, “Ni ni” when I told him it was time to go to bed. He giggled when I gave him his Pooh Bear and didn’t whimper when the lights went out.

Now, if only he would give us a treat and sleep in next Saturday.

Yesterday Julie commented that she liked the color on my walls and I just have to say that yes, I love color. If you have seen Fuller’s room you will notice that it is many shades of blue, an explosion of the blue and grey found in his chair bed.

Deciding how to decorate “the baby’s” room was kind of difficult for us to agree on. We entertained Suess-like shapes or possibily a Madeline kind of mural. Agreeing on blue stripes really eased the decision making process from there.

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Twentyfive years ago today I got a new sister. I already had one, but I guess my parents thought I needed another. Yes, I was spoiled.

Since I was five I have more of a memory about when Sarah-Ginny was born. For one thing, I remember distinctly that my mother’s water broke in the kitchen. And then I remember going to the Leech’s house to spend the night. The next day, November 28th, 1981, my little sister was born.

My mom wanted to leave the hospital right away, but she couldn’t because the scrawny chicken (aka my sister) didn’t have a name. When my dad went to get them after church he went to the bassinette and said, “Your name is Sarah Genevieve.”

And that was that.

(Sarah-Ginny didn’t become Sarah-Ginny until years later, but that is a different story.)

My little sister, Sarah, came home and went straight to church to be passed around at the Thanksgiving fellowship lunch.

So today, I give thanks for my baby sister and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Dear Santa,

Did you ever see that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond when Raymond gave his parent’s a subscription to the fruit of the month club? You know how his parent’s totally freaked out because they thought it was cult-like?

Well, here is a teeny, tiny secret: I have always thought it would be neat to be given a subscription to one of those clubs. Not that you have to give me one this year, but if you would open your file “Alicia Crumley” and in the section called “likes” you should include “… of the month clubs.”

And no, your little elves wouldn’t have to do a thing for me, because there are websites… wait, you get the internet at the North Pole, right? I mean, I keep getting spam from you stating you want to send my child a letter. Did you know you could end up on Dateline for stuff like that?

Anyway, there are sites on the internet that would be happy to arrange subscriptions to all kinds of “… of the month clubs.”

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Fuller did two bad things today:

1.) He got into the stain that D was using to stain some wood. D wasn’t able to accomplish what he wanted to because he then had to give Fuller a bath.

2.) He didn’t take any naps or even attempt one.

I just had to document that.

The above title is taken from bumper stickers printed after Alabama beat Auburn in 1985 and secured a spot in the (somewhat ‘D’ list) Aloha Bowl, while Auburn went to the much more prestigious Cotton Bowl.

Apparently, Alabama no longer feels that way, ’cause they finally wised-up and fired Mike Shula.

Twenty-one years later, Shula’s luster has finally faded.

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