A few years ago I purchased these stocking holders that were perfect for our little family - Matt, Mojo and myself. I chose “Joy” not thinking about the practicality of the three letters, but because it was my favorite word offered. Unwise, as this year we’ve had an increase in family members, and now Mojo’s stocking has nowhere to hang. Berlin’s stocking has taken his “Y.”

Luckily, Pottery Barn has plain stocking holders for sale in the bronze finish, so Mojo will get one of these. Unpersonalized. Are all first children shafted when the second comes along?

From Daily Daguerreotype

It’s been a bittersweet year in many ways, but I have so much to be thankful for that it’s pretty overwhelming. I wish you all well over the holiday and hope that it’s spent with people that you love doing things that you love to do.

A big thank you to my loving and supportive family, Matt’s loving and supportive family, and you our greatest friends. You have held us up during some of the toughest times in our lives, and we owe you a lot.

And Matt, thank you for being my best friend and my strongest ally.

Now let’s rock dinner like the Pilgrims taught us, yo.

Most of you know how much I love the holidays, and each year I find myself getting increasingly more Christmas cheer than ever before. This year for my birthday Matt bought me Harry Connick Jr.’s newest disc, “What A Night! A Christmas Album,” which was released the day after my birthday. Suffice it to say… the boy knows.

I’ve been playing it non-stop, so it’s only appropriate that I blog about it this week. Like any other Connick Jr. album, the songs are well-orchestrated and leave you humming new riffs that you will now forever associate with “Have A Holly Jolly Christmas.” Although it hasn’t yet taken the place in my heart that belongs to his 2003 album “Harry for the Holidays,” I have to admit that it’s pretty cute to hear him singing along with his daughter Kate who has some SERIOUS CHOPS!

As always, you can preview the album in the Amazon widget in the sidebar. And if you need a serious boost of Christmas cheer (which some of you Scrooges REALLY need!), download it to your iPod and try to withstand crushing hardcore on H Jr.

Also, I always link you through to Amazon because I prefer buying mp3s from their site over iTunes. But I’m sure you can find it there as well.

We had a fabulous weekend in the White Mountains - myself camping with family and a very stinky Berlin - Matt hiking the Presidential Traverse. They summited 9 mountains in 2.5 days. Not bad if you ask me.

I foolishly decided to leave my camera at home so it wouldn’t get damaged… or wind up smelling like dirty camp dog. But the White Mountains are so breathtaking, which I always seem to forget until I go back. I give New Hampshire a lot of flack after growing up there, but I have to take it all back after a 15 minute hike to a boiling river unspoiled and barren even on a holiday weekend.

My love of place is strong, albeit not as strong as other people I know. But I have really connected with some places I have been/lived, and out of them all, New England still takes the cake. We live in a green city, a historical city, and a place of significant cultural relevance. Drive one way for a half an hour and you’re at the beach. Drive another direction for an hour and you’re in the middle of lush farmland. Drive a few hours north and you’re at some of the most beautiful, most hiked mountains in the US. Go ahead and read all about it in Yankee Magazine.

But I think what I love the most in New England are these crazy people. These people who are stingy and private about their economic status. These people who are outrageously liberal yet go to New Hampshire on the weekends to shop tax-free and hunt. New England has some of the best universities and has always been known as an intellectual hub. But it’s a place where lobstermen are lauded, perhaps even more than senators. I think I love this place so much because of it’s glaring contradictions. Do you understand me all the better now?

They say that people in New England are rude because of seasonal effective disorder. I disagree. I think we’re rude for the same reason Iceland was named as such. Because we sort of want to protect this place and keep it a secret.

I’m sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I was pretty busy with other things. Like taking the bus to the transmission shop to pick up my car, and being attacked by a pitbull while in the park with Berlin. I wound up with a gash on arm, a bruised left heel and something on my back that feels like a bruise, but I can’t see it so I don’t know. I’m really ok, but I have to tell you that it was neither fun NOR fun. We’ve bumped into this guy and his pitbull a number of times, but the dog is generally tightly restrained on his leash. I don’t know what this dolt was thinking by letting his very territorial male dog off his leash in the park, but I hope he’s learned not to do that again. Berlin’s ok, and I can’t find any scratches or cuts despite the fact that the dog was chomping on her neck.

It’s been an overall rough week, and I’ve been without Matt for a few days here as he’s hiking the Presidential Range in NH. I hate to admit it, but I’m pretty co-dependent and very quickly turn into a basketcase when I don’t have him right over there… on the couch… for me to just talk to or be next to. I’ll get to see him on Saturday, as Berlin and I are camping w/ my folks and going to the end of the trail to pick him up.

SO now that we’re caught up, have a great holiday weekend. And don’t forget those dudes, and the tea party, and the shot heard round the world. Independence has been pretty hot since then.

I’m into mothers. I think they’re great people. I think they put up with a lot of crap. So I think it’s valid that we celebrate them once a year.

This Sunday, I’ll be having a crowd over for lunch to celebrate moms and their success in child-rearing. We’ll have three generations of mothers represented, which I think is a pretty spectacular thing. And it appears that we skated through Berlin’s heat miraculously without adding a fourth generation of mother. HOO-RAY!

While my own mother has only ever asked for “Good Behavior” on Mother’s Day, we all know that it’s always crucial to give her something more. So the retailers have been bombarding us for the past few weeks giving us loads of opportunities to spend our money. And because I subscribe to so many email marketing campaigns for industry knowledge, I have recently felt the brunt of their marketing initiatives.

So I looked to my inbox for gift ideas. Two of my very favorite Mother’s Day promotional emails came through today: the first from National Geographic featuring their issue on animal intelligence. This was one of the best issues that I’ve read since becoming a subscriber three years ago, and if you haven’t read it, go pick it up! Plus, how cute is this border collie? Clearly I was their target market, but my mom is not… so she’s not getting the Geographic for Mother’s Day.

The second email that I loved was for Crate & Barrel. How much do you just want everything in this photo? Especially that box of tea. But my mom has more kitchen stuff than she could ever need, so I am not heading to C&B. At least not for HER gift.

After browsing through a few more emails and heading over to Amazon.com with little success I realized that the small token gift that I got for her combined with a homemade dinner that she doesn’t need to cook or clean up after… and Good Behavior… will be my gift to her this Mother’s Day.

But the Good Behavior doesn’t officially start until Sunday. Because I already sent her the following email this morning:

“Mom, I think you need a DOG in your life vomiting on your newly installed carpet. That will help you realize you can’t control everything. Either a dog or a big fat doobie to smoke while doing your yoga video. Love ya, P.”

Wait a minute! I’ve suddenly been hit with some great Mother’s Day gift ideas!