We made it! Thanksgiving came and went without a hitch. Okay, without a ton of hitches. One of my pies never set up, and an unnecessarily complicated corn recipe that I tried came out so freakishly chewy (think: floss required) that I bagged it at the last minute. Luckily, I work in volume. So a botched pie or two can sail through unnoticed.  

This week on TheNest.com boards, the convo was all about holiday gift giving. More than one Nestie was already done with her shopping! That pretty much gave me a heart attack, as I had yet to give it a single thought. For the past few years, Jack and I have pretty much opted out of Christmas when it comes to extended family. They gave us a pass because they all understood: When you buy a 110-year-old house that needs a massive renovation, there is just no such thing as extra money.  

Ugh, I just got back from the behemoth grocery shop of the year -- picking up all the Thanksgiving fixin’s, and would like to announce that I am officially already burned out on holidays. Okay, I'm exaggerating. But I will say that it's a helluva lot of work. So I was relaxing, watching a few Funny or Die clips when I found this (not quite suitable for work) hilarious Twilight spoof. Which brings me to the question: What is the deal with married, 30-something (or much, much older) women being all obsessed with teenage vampire dudes? I just don’t get it.  

If my last post didn't set anyone's mind at ease, then maybe this will. Here's the deal: I’m around men every single day and I hear them talk about women a lot. Over and over again, listening to them has proven that sex appeal is a broad and complex thing. Far too complex to be destroyed by a mere 20 extra pounds. I have seen women of so many shapes, sizes, and colors command the attention of my male counterparts that I think it's time to throw out the entire rulebook. To think that we can reduce sex appeal to stats like waist size, height, etc., is really missing the point.  

Do I look fat? It's a question that inevitably comes up in every relationship, and usually it's the female doing the asking. I'm sure occasionally the reverse is true, but while most women seem to consider weight gain to be a curse, apparently many men consider it to be their birthright. They're just not as concerned. But women are really concerned, which is why this subject needs to be handled with absolute care and compassion.  

A recent Marie Claire story describes the widespread phenomenon of 30-something men in seemingly great relationships, who are finding it next to impossible to pull the trigger and get married. The story calls 30 "the new male midlife crisis," which, to someone who hopes to live beyond 60, seems like a bit of a stretch. But other parts of the story really hit home. Take this excerpt, for instance (oh, and PS, it’s a guy talking):  

First of all -- let me just say that when it comes to weight and body image, my heart does hurt for Khloe Kardashian. In any other household, hers would be the Amazonian body by which all others are judged. But in the ’Dash house, she's the chubby one forced to suffer critical comments from such wackos as stepfather Bruce Jenner (who, let’s face it, is neck and neck with Mickey Rourke in the category of Most Horrific Male Plastic Surgery Recipient).  

Recently, I asked readers to leave comments about topics they'd like me to cover -- sort of an "Ask a Married Man" idea. One said she'd love to hear how a guy would like to be informed that he’s, um, way overdue for a manscaping sesh.

Well the fact is, most men (at least this one) don't spend a lot of time thinking about the way that they'd like to be informed of anything. But we do think about the times that it's been done badly. Bottom line? Embarrassment sucks, and avoiding it is a major man goal. It's hard to explain, but I guess my favorite way to be informed is one that leaves me thinking that I've come up with the idea myself. Some women are great at finding a way to put things in motion without hitting a guy over the head with it.