Wanna know a secret?

Pssst . . . hey! Over here! I’m not sure whether you’ve heard . . . did you know that Christmas is only a few days away? It’s so odd because usually it’s a really big deal. But this year? I haven’t heard anything about it.

Yeah, yeah . . . you know that’s a lie. What with the ads on TV, and the holiday songs that have been on the radio since what seems like August, it’s pretty tough to miss it.

Fortunately, all of our shopping is done! Now we just have to finish the wrapping, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and baking so we can welcome our guests and begin the entertaining portion of the program. J.P.’s brothers have been planning to come to our house from North Carolina (they have 3 teenage boys and 2 labradors) and New Jersey (they have 4 kids under 10 and a border collie) to celebrate.

The plan was for Brother NC to arrive late Monday afternoon, and Brother NJ and Mom would show up on Tuesday. They’re all staying over on Tuesday night, which will be quite the adventure. Well, NC called this afternoon and said that the kids want to spend more time with their idol, Uncle J.P. So now they’re coming on Saturday! And still staying until Thursday (which was the original plan)! Fortunately NJ and family are only staying one night.

Now don’t get me wrong–I am looking forward to it. We don’t see them very often, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun. But now our time to accomplish all those tasks has been virtually cut in half, and we’re starting to panic a little bit. Well, the panic isn’t anything a few games of Wii tennis can’t cure, but still! (Would you believe we were playing tonight, with everything we have to do? Stupid! And now I’m sitting here blogging. Nice.)

But I didn’t sit down to write about all of this. Nope. I wanted to extend an invitation to you . . .

Last year I posted a Christmas greeting on my blog that included this picture:

Susie commented with a great suggestion:

“I so love Maggie’s Rudolph pic. If I’m still in blogworld, next year, I am stealing that idea, be forewarned. In fact, I say all pet lovers should post their critters with red noses and Santa hats.”

She probably doesn’t even remember saying it, but I’m going to hold her to it (if she’s feeling up to it)! And I’d like to invite you to join us. If you do a Christmas post, include a pic of your pet (or kid if you prefer) with the red nose. Santa hats and other “gay apparel” and props are optional but welcome. I think it would be fun to visit everyone’s blogs and see the pets in their holiday finery.

Time’s getting a little short, but you can do it! I’ll probably put mine up on Saturday. Stop by to see Merry Maggie and wish her a Merry Christmas.