There aren’t really words to describe what the last three weeks have been like… the ones that come to mind are “insanity” “exhaustion” “run over by a Mack truck” and a series of four letter words that I am trying unsuccessfully to cut out of my vocabulary. And really, I don’t mind insanity and exhaustion, as long as it culminates in sucess… and since that currently remains to be seen, I’m just putting my head down and barreling through the days until I find that mythical light at the end of the tunnel.

I just barely had time to finish half a dozen brooms on Christmas Eve (and I mean, the glue was still drying on these babies when I gave them away) but there are a couple of new fun designs to show off.

Zebra striped and the Ultimate Polka Dots in black and pink.

I had intentions of posting our MysterMan’s ingenious Christmas tree compromise before the big day, but no such luck…

The problem with the Christmas tree was that it pissed me off to buy a cut live tree because 1.) We’re going to be buying and planing a ton of live evergreens on the Memorial property, so why should we spend money on what is essentially a dead tree, and 2.) My heart breaks a little for all those trees that have been cut down… especially when I pick one out for my very own Christmas tree. (Yeah, yeah, I’m a tree hugger and I know it, so sue me.)

We we’re holding out to get a big ol’ evergreen with a root ball, which are amazingly hard to find in December… and just when I had resigned myself to buying a fake tree MysteryMan came up with a brilliant idea:

 Take three of those small little “Holiday Trees” from Home Depot…

Put one on a pedastle and make a pyramid…

And Voila! A real live Christmas tree… and all three trees can be planted on our property come spring.

Now… I’m convinced the reason that MysteryMan came up with this idea (instead of me) is because he is now a real live professional Engineer.

That’s right. We suffered through a year of studying, and me pretending to know what terms like “amplification factor” and “axial load” mean, plus two hellish road trips, and sixteen hours of exam questions (that last part was exclusive to the Man of Mystery himself, but were just as painful for me… especially when eight of them were spent working out of the back of the Xterra)

But all of that paid off… and now we can all refer to MysteryMan, as MysteryMan P.E.

And you know what? That has been such a highlight of the last three weeks that I’m going to end this post on that note… because honestly? It just fucking rocks. I’m so proud of this guy!