Christmas Time is here.....

Well we made it through Thanksgiving and now it looks like Santa Claus has thrown up all over Shanghai (more pictures of downtown in a week or so). Since the 1970s the Chinese Christian population has been growing significantly although it is still tightly controlled by government officials and must of course have "regulations." But hey, if they government can make money on Christmas, then Hallelujah! Thus, China has its own reason for the season. Alas.... in the Claxton houshold is full of excitement because Tracy double booked - the dogs that is. Our new friends Amy and Josh are currently in NYC until December 7th, so we said of course we'd watch Layna (the ultimate Omega Dog) figuring our next gig was starting December 9th when Maxine (Wyatt's twin sister and just as much an alpha dog) comes to visit for the rest of the year! Well, Maxine's Mom and Dad had to leave a week earlier than planned and so now we have 3 long days with 2 dogs in the household.

Its a good thing that Tracy planned ahead and had a case of wine delivered (gosh, who knew we would meet the groovy wine dude over Thanksgiving - God had the plan all lined up for us!) Since Tracy was in good "spirits," we decided we also needed a Christmas tree to bring that festive touch to our new home. Boy did Will luck out at the local store .... (a little history needed: Tracy's ideal Christmas tree is simple, yet elegant, non-blinking white lights, baby's breath and red ribbons spread evenly throughout the tree, maybe a cranberry garland... tinsel garland, pah-lease! Can I be more anal?.... Will's ideal tree: multi-color blinky lights - and if they play music even better, every single ornament he ever collected as a child - plastic, wooden, or otherwise and tinsel garland in multi-color as well - along with multicolored balls, and the train racing around the track under the tree - Needless to say last year we compromised on blue NON-blinking lights, no garland, red ribbons, and multi-colored balls and a few carefully selected childhood ornaments). This year there is no hope. They only had multi-colored blinky lights, so I said what the heck - lets go for the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (do I need to insert a trademark symbol for saying that???). Complete with crooked star on top. We LOVE it! And Thanks Mom for throwing in the Christmas CD in the last shipment. It adds a nice touch. So from our home to yours - Happy Holidays Charlie Brown.... More festive pictures to come.....