Small Pleasures

2 quick thoughts, neither of which is at all serious. First, I love Christmas. Being married to a genuine elf helps with this. But I especially like that this time of year I get to reach over to the far left-hand side of my tie rack and break out the Christmas ties. I pretty much wear one every school day and Sunday in December (except for home ball games, when the dress code is the open-collared coach shirt). It's a little bit of holiday cheer that costs nada.

Secondly, I have a new razor. Now, this is not big or important news. But several months ago, Mrs. Sal got on a kick of clipping coupons. She's good at it, and has saved us big-time bucks. But one of the things we began doing was trying out various disposable razors for which she had coupons rather than pay the big bucks for refills for my old Gillette Mach 3. Sadly, my face (unlike the rest of me) is carved from a block of granite--all sharp angles. And the new razors came at a cost... I have probably cut myself 20 times since the coupon deal began. Well, she got a coupon that let us get the relatively-new Gillette Fusion, their top-of-the-line 5-blade super razor. Sorry, but I may never go back. Yes, a 4-pack of blades is $14. But WOW. I know, I sound like a commercial, but after carving my chin at least once a week (and still having patches along my jawline that never got touched), this is amazing. I think I wouldn't have appreciated it so much if I hadn't had some of the cheapo razors first, just for contrast.

Anyway, we don't say "thanks" for small, simple pleasures often enough. So I'm just registering a couple of little nice things that have brought me joy. May your Christmas be merry and your cheeks be smooth!