O, arboreal friend!

We got our Christmas tree - excuse me, our arboreal friend, as Coffeeboy has been calling it on behalf of the cats - this weekend! Thus far, the kittens like it a lot; they're extremely pleased with "their" new toy:

Actually, they've been very good. They haven't drunk from the tree's water bowl. They haven't knocked over the tree or electrocuted themselves on the lights. They've only crawled under the tree skirt and taken naps there... a few times in the last day or so. But hey, since the tree hasn't fallen over, I'm happy!

I love the holidays. We're an interfaith home here at chez Lazuli and Coffeeboy, and it's been an interesting and enjoyable process learning to celebrate our two traditions. We always adorn our home with lots of light - on the tree, around the menorah, framing the windows, along the fireplace, up the stairway railing. I love how the light looks in the darkness, how whether it comes from a menorah's candles or a fireplace or even a colorful electric glow - for a short moment at least, the light drives out the darkness of the winter and the world.

Tonight we engage in my other favorite part of the holidays - baking cookies! Tonight we'll make a type of cookie that my mom's family has used for generations (well, at least back to my great-grandmother), a sour milk cookie cut in shapes of Santas, trees, dreidels, and Jewish stars. We used to call them the "Santa Clauses and Christmas trees," but now I don't know what to call them, since that list of four holiday symbols gets rather long! Over the next few days, I promise there will be lots of baking going on in the Lazuli household!

(Apologies to those using blog aggregating services: I've switched to blogger beta, and now it reads "26 posts" in bloglines! All should catch up soon; let me know if something isn't working.)