Happy Baby Birthing to Matt Lauer and his annoying wife. I consider myself part of the Today Show family, broken as it may be, so I'm excited for another addition to the group! Babies are fun--no, I'm not pregnant!

Is it December yet? Is it? Doesn't it feel like it should be? Thanksgiving is over, the semester is all but done, it is time for December. I can't do the winter wonderland crap until it is December. I'm trying to push myself into the spirit by listening to the music, which for me is what symbolizes the holiday. I'm shopping up a storm and feeling good about the deals I'm finding and the great items for people. Still, if it is after thanksgiving and people are going to insist on all the lights being up, then it should be December.

Think I might go to Wheaton this weekend on my way back from Barrington. They are having their holiday Chorale Concert. For those who don't know, I sang in the Chorale for four years and looking back, I would say it was one of the things that got me through college. Rehearsal twice a week for two hours (which I skipped a fair amount one year...) seemed like a lot at the time, but it was four hours a week to totally decompress and just be Heather. I'm not the greatest singer in the world, but I always felt at home when I was on that stage in the Chapel with those people. I used to make the SGA Treasurer demand the Student Banker change his hours so I would always have one special person in the audience. Jenny, Sarah, and Laura always made it a point to come cheer on the rest of us in our little click who sang. It meant was so much a part of my time in school and I didn't even realize the significance at the time. It makes me really sad that Rachel and I don't talk now, because when I remember Chorale I have fun memories of Krissy and other good friends, but Chorale was about my and Rach. We sat together for four years-even forced other people to switch seats with us so we could be together when singing different parts. We made the bold move to the front row in our Junior year. We gave nicknames of Muppet characters one year to all of the boys. We were just two people doing what we loved, in a series of foreign languages, and even when we didn't know who or what we were in any other aspect of our lives, we were just Heather and Rachel sitting on that stage. We were doing something that had been the thing in our lives that was probably the most natural thing on the planet-even easier than breathing. My first real memory is of singing a solo in kindergarten and I would venture to guess her first real memories are of singing too. It is heartbreaking to look back on that special thing and time and know that we aren't friends anymore over such a silly thing. Oh well, I guess people change and grow and you can't expect things or friends to stay the same. Still, I miss singing on the holidays and since I have such negative feelings about them lately (you would too if your November/December was spent entirely in the car), I though a trip to Wheaton to relive a special memory might help punch up the spirit. I think I'll even wear black and white to complete the feeling! Anyone who is local is welcome to join me. I would love the company. We can complete the experience by going to Friendly's for peanut butter cup sundaes with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

What are your favorite holiday things? For me it is the music. I don't need a winter wonderland, I don't need a certain drink or food, I just need to sing along to the sounds of the season. When I finally have kids and get to stop traveling for the holidays (every year on Christmas, I promise myself I'll get knocked-up so I don't have to travel the following year), I'll find a place to sing in a Christmas Eve concert. Might even get me out of the seven courses of seafood dinner...