To My Eco-Friendly Santa Baby

My husband just LOVES Christmas but he always worries too much about what gift to get me. Since my life is already so good, I can rarely think of a darn thing to tell him that I want or need.

Truth be told, as corny and romantic as it sounds, sharing my life with a wonderful, joyful man like Tom kind of makes every day feel like Christmas.

I’ve mentioned before that he is the one who taught me much of what I know about being an eco-friendly gardener. And he really still is the primary gardener in our household. He not only carefully tends our gardens in a complete organic and eco-friendly way, but he always makes sure that my bird and hummingbird feeders are full and that the birdbaths are ready for visitors. In other words, much of the happiness that I get from living in our own little woodland habitat of critters, birds and butterflies; eating meals made from fresh, home grown organic produce; and knowing we are doing our part to help take care of the planet, is because of my live-in Santa Claus, my husband Tom.

So, sweetie, if you want to know what to get me for Christmas, just keep gardening with me. I love what we are growing together.

And readers, I’ll apologize in advance for this REALLY corny poem. And I promise it will be my last one for this holiday season!

To My Santa Baby (Tom)

Santa baby, slip some compost under the tree
with me,
I’ve been an awful good girl
Santa baby
so help me spread some compost tonight

Santa baby, another rain barrel too
light blue
I'll help you hook it up, dear
Santa baby, let’s make another barrel tonight

Think of all the run-off that we’ve missed
By being eco-friendly con-ser-va-tion-ists
We’ve been being oh so good
By being eco-friendly like I know we should
Boo doo bee doo

Santa honey,
I wanna plot and really that's not,
a lot
I’ll keep it chem-ic-al free
Santa baby, just help me plant this garden tonight

Santa cutie, there's one thing I really do need
Some seed
For these critters of mine
Santa cutie, so help me fill the feeders tonight

Santa baby,
I've got a few little more proj-ects
We’ll get them done in no time
Santa baby, so hurry while we’ve still got day-light

Help me trim those old oak trees
To even out our forest can-o-py
I’ll hold the ladder
still for you
Let's just see
How well we’ll do
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby,
forgot to mention one little thing,
to bring
Bring some firewood inside
Santa baby,
so we can light the fireplace tonight.

And we can cuddle by the firelight
And we can cuddle by the firelight….

Ohh, Santa Baby!

This year, I am thankful for........

I love Thanksgiving, but my love of the holiday has very little to do with the actual meal that is the center of so many celebrations. What it does have to do with are the other sweets, treats and blessings that make up the daily feast that is my life.

I love the word itself -- Thanks-giving -- which is like a bright neon flashing light reminding me of everything that I have to be thankful for, not just on the last Thursday of November, but every day.

The people, of course, are the most scrumptious part of my life. My husband, although both a turkey and a ham, at times, is really the center of everything that is good in my life. But the rest of my family and friends are the perfect side-dishes to my life. Some are nutty. Some are mushy. Some nourish me. And some are just for pure pleasure!

But my feast doesn’t stop there. I’m thankful for my health, my home, my work, my gardens, the critters in our yard that add daily wonders to our lives, all the healthy babies that are in our extended family.

Every single day of my life, I have much to be thankful for. But there are days when I have to admit, I let the mundane and annoying aspects of my life get in the way, and I forget just how thankful I really am.

But that is why I like this season, when everywhere you look, you are being reminded, that this is a time for Thanks-Giving.

What do you have to be thankful for?