Last night was the Chorale’s holiday concert. Something about getting up on stage and performing Christmas carols really gets me in the holiday spirit. Even though we’ve been rehearsing these songs for weeks, it’s not until the performance that it really feels like Christmas.

Today I was finally inspired to put up my tree. It’s fake, mainly because I don’t trust the little furballs not to climb it. We’re always out of town for Christmas, anyway, with alternating parents, one less fire hazard to worry about.

They pretty much leave the tree alone, aside from batting at the occasional ornament. We put all the indestructable ones on the bottom. Though, they seem to enjoy coughing up hairballs on the tree skirt! Every year …

A while back I wrote about never wanting anything for Christmas. But my husband always stresses out about finding me things, so I thought I’d try to be helpful.

I learned about ThisNext from a contest on another blog, and it seemed like a good place to create a wishlist. I’m always seeing things I like when shopping online for people so I figured it would be easy to create a nice, long list of suggestions.

Not so easy. I’ve only added a few things so far. Where were all the things I liked that I kept seeing?

Sorry honey, I’ll try harder. Here’s my list — stay tuned for updates.

Last night my husband reached a breaking point in what had apparently always been a lingering question in his mind …

“Where does belly-button lint come from?”

He was pretty freaked out, like there was a conspiracy against him.

I’ve never really pondered the subject, but seeing how my belly button is significantly smaller than his, I imagine I generate a far smaller amount.

I promised him I’d do some research, and here are my findings (a few bullet points pulled from Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki’s 2001 study, as listed on Wikipedia):

• Navel lint consists primarily of stray fibres from one’s clothing, mixed with some dead skin cells and strands of body hair.
• Contrary to expectations, navel lint appears to migrate upwards from underwear rather than downwards from shirts or tops.
• The existence of navel lint is entirely harmless, and requires no corrective action.

Um, I don’t know why anyone would think it was harmful. And, what type of corrective action would you take? Lint screen?

Anyway, here’s another funny site: Belly Button Lint: The Hole Story.

And here’s something completely disgusting.

I like to think of myself as being laid back. I take things as they come. I don’t worry a lot. I don’t anger easily. Work only stresses me out when there are more projects than there are hours (but I usually end up ahead, anyway).

Life is good.

Yet I always carry a lot of tension in my shoulders.

I try to relax my arms, but it doesn’t last long. I know sitting at a computer all day doesn’t help … but it’s around when I’m not working, too.

I think I’ve just always been this way. I remember a friend giving me a shoulder massage commenting on how tense I was, back when we were in high school. How stressed could I have been then? I guess I can’t blame the computer …

Some days, it kind of hurts my shoulders when I’m running – I can’t even relax while performing a relaxing activity! (I know not everyone will agree with me that running is relaxing, but it’s a great stress reliever!)

My office periodically has massage therapists to come in and give 15-minute chair massages. They were here this afternoon.

The massage therapist probably thought I was extremely stressed out. She kept having me take deep breaths and exhale slowly. They do two at time; the other therapist only had my co-worker breathe deep at the beginning and end.

I needed a lot more than 15 minutes. But I guess I also need to learn how to relax!

I like getting things for free. I’ve been a subscriber to the Weekly Freebie Compilation for years now, and I often come home to free samples in my mailbox.

Usually, I expect to see grocery products, like tea or granola bar samples; sometimes lotions or shampoos. Often promotional items and sweepstakes make it into the list.

I laughed reading through this week’s selection — Ashlee Simpson’s “I am Me” album is available for free as mp3s.

Poor girl must be desperate for people to listen to her album … still, I’m not even remotely interested in downloading it!