Today our good friend Dave braved the weather in Clifford (the big red truck) to help me haul three months’ worth of debris from the garage. All the plaster, lathe, carpeting, foam, and shelving we’ve torn out fit snugly in the back of the truck, and then we hooked him up with a ton of new music on his iPod. The afternoon involved finishing off our Christmas cards—signing, addressing, and sealing all 80+ of them. Big fun.

2. Jen and I have been in this house since August, and we’ve had roaring fires going many times in the fireplace. We’ve learned that the best way to keep a fire going without a damper was to close the glass insert doors to a sliver to get the updraft from the house whooshing past the logs. It makes for a ripping good fire, even if it burns all the wood in three minutes flat. Saturday morning the chimney guys came out to look at the damper, and gave us some bad news: the furnace shares the flue with the fireplace, which means that having the glass doors open is very bad—carbon monoxide could shoot back down the chimney and kill us while we watch West Wing reruns. So, no fires for us anymore.

3. The company Christmas party was good this year. Jen ducked out to get her shopping done, so I went stag to McCaffrey’s and sat at a table with my boss, my old producer, and my cube-neighbor. We had a very good time by ourselves, and when the party finished up we drove over to our CEO’s condo in Roland Park to finish off the rest of the wine. Overall, the mood this year was festive, compared to last year’s understated party—the promise of much work and a healthy company brightened the evening.

Afterwards, I drove north to my friend and old business partner’s house for their annual holiday party, which was a good time. Playing pool and catching up were good fun, even if the upstairs was stocked with some dull folks. (Really, who goes to a party to sit on the couch and watch The Wizard Of Oz? Live a little, people.)

4. Jen and I decided that the best way to celebrate Friday was to leave the house and find some good Mexican food. We drove out Rt. 40 to Señor Toucan’s, a Mexican/Latin restaurant decorated in high schmaltz. Fortunately, there were two mariachis inside warming up, and they serenaded the dining room during our meal. Three margaritas and some killer mole later, we were ready to hire them for our wedding—even though the theme is supposed to be Savannah southern.

5. They found Saddam! He was in a hole and looked like shit! Hope you like that jail cell, pal.