There's mud in my saddle shoes!

I caved. We bought a plastic tree yesterday. At ::shudder:: B & Q (an orange Home-Depot-type place, for the Yanks). It actually looks pretty reasonable and is a good size for the room.

I'd had my heart set on a real tree, but John was resisting on two counts: that it (1) would stain our v. pale carpet and (2) would be bad for the planet. We averted WWIII on Sunday morning but it was a near miss. I wanted the 'real' tree for three reasons: (1) they smell SO good, (2) I'm morally opposed to plastic trees and (3) I JUST DID.

Ever the diplomat, John came up with a compromise: I could have a tree, but it had to be plastic. In return, I could pick out whichever one I wanted. In addition, I could have whatever decorations I wanted for the front of the house. Oh...you thought I was Kate Monster before. Well, the tree is here and up (pics to follow - it's so damn DARK in England in the winter), and there's a wreath on the front door. I see some lawn ornaments in my future... You know, those Santa & snowman snowglobey things with the blowing-around 'snow'. And music. And blinky lights. And reindeer on the roof. And lights outlining the house.

Putting up the tree yesterday (i.e. clipping it together and un-mashing the 'branches') meant that I could have Sesame Street Christmas! It's so convenient having it on mp3, especially since the record version is in New Ro and I am not. And we don't have a record player. I LOVE the 'Christmas On Sesame Street' (Gift of the Magi) story - I think I drive everyone crazy by talking along to it. And James' new favorite Christmas carol is The 12 Days Of Christmas On Sesame Street, with the climax being Cookie Monster's rendition of 'ONE DELICIOUS COOOOKIE!!' (in place of that tired old partridge...)

My parents have joined us in the 21st century with Skype and a webcam on my mom's new laptop. After much internet research and gnashing of teeth I found a Logitech Quick Chat 'Skype Edition' that works with both my Mac AND Skype. Skype isn't thrilled with it - it crashes randomly, but it's great to be able to 'see' mom and dad when I talk to them. Oh, and I'm not using up all my skype credits and my mom's cellphone minutes by calling them on SkypeOut. Not that I mind, but still. Oh, and apparently the crazy people in Rhode Island pick out their Christmas tree some time over the summer, while it's still growing at the farm, and decorate it. So it doesn't get lonely, I guess. And then they come and collect it at Christmas like normal people.

John and I were very industrious yesterday morning and planned out all of our meals for the week. We've been reading that 1/3 of all food bought in the UK is thrown out, and we'd run into the 'what's for dinner - go to the supermarket - get home and realize that we had something that needed eating' problem. So we've planned out all the meals for this week and did a big-ish shop yesterday and have planned a mini-one for Thursday evening to get some more green stuff. I feel so organized and Rachael Ray-y. And frugal - we didn't buy anything that wasn't on the list.