Yule log posts

Not all that long ago I remember scrambling around for last-minute gifts to buy for the new babies in my life. There are a lot of cute options (as you've no doubt noticed if you find yourself in this boat) but I got the strong impression that cute alone isn't enough to carry the day.

Now that I have a small human of my own, it's becoming clear that instinct was correct – there are a lot of cute toys the kid doesn't care about and a lot of cute clothes that only get worn once.

Need baby gift ideas? I'm pretty close to the subject these days. Forget the onesie – sizing on kids clothes is such a crap shoot, particularly when they're growing like unpredictable weeds. (The kids, not the clothes.)

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Those who say there is nothing like a crackling fire during the holidays obviously have never watched The Fireplace Channel.

It's that ambient, if not hypnotic, TV station that is simply an ever-lit fire with realistic wood burning sound effects. And for some reason, it's extremely popular -- so popular that the anonymous male arm
that stokes the fire every so often has 39,435 fans on Facebook.

Hey, before you knock it, know that I've been invited to many Christmas parties where the central activity was watching The Fireplace Channel and cheering whenever the guy moved his plaid-wearing arm to stoke the hearth. Literally, all guests would stop what they were doing and send up a whoop for whoever the mystery man was that acted as fire-tender.