The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...unless your name is Jason. With the holidays fast approaching I begin to think about all the things that need to be done around the house to make it festive and cheerful. For me this means Christmas lights on the house and lots of baking and cooking. Alas, for Jason the consequences of holiday merry-making are putting up the Christmas lights (yes, they must be straight) and cleaning up the kitchen after I've used every dish in the house. At least he had a little helper this year!

Isabelle and Jason working on the first strand of lights. Note the happy smiles - as if Jason has been counting down the days to these joyous hours he will spend testing hundreds of tiny light bulbs to find the one causing the whole strand not to work.

Five hours later. What happened to your smile Jase? And where did your helper go?

Jason is so lucky to have a wife who knew he would need some time away from those Christmas lights. Just look at this refreshing break I'm giving him!

I'm sure that after washing these dishes Jason was rejuvenated and ready to head back up to the roof.

Please don't feel too badly for Jason. He will get to enjoy all the goodies I made, including this new recipe for cranberry-pistachio biscotti. Besides, doesn't every man love to help around the house?