Crooners But No Kissing

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Phillip taking care of the kids all day so I could work, shop, and relax a little. Much as I love my kids, kid-free time is my favorite gift to receive.

. . . decorating the Christmas tree while Daniel napped. It was fun to watch Phillip and Joy both get so into it, and for Joy the decorating never really stopped. She spent the rest of the day rearranging the kid-friendly ornaments on the bottom third of the tree.

And another thing . . .

. . . My daughter Joy has told me in no uncertain terms that she likes hugs but does NOT like kisses. When I give her a hug, it often requires some serious willpower to resist kissing her cheek, too. Good thing my son Daniel has no such compunctions.

. . . I initially told Pandora.com to create a Christmas station based on Josh Groban's "Little Drummer Boy." One of the first songs it played was a Frank Sinatra carol, and when I indicated that I liked that Pandora started playing all crooners, all the time. I eventually convinced it I wanted some variety, but along the way it was kind of interesting to sample the music of the Rat Pack, etc., and decide what I thought of them.

I like Frank Sinatra – he has a solid, clean style of singing. Andy Williams has a good, straightforward sound, too, but Johnny Mathis rubs me the wrong way somehow. Nat King Cole is pretty good, but he adds flourishes here and there that can be distracting to me. Dean Martin sounds smug and cocky, and I tend to skip him. Sorry Dean.