Last Christmas ...

Note:  CollegeOne ... since I know you have strong
feelings about people who decorate early?
Maybe you should skip this post.
Just go straight to the next one ...
or hey, if you're really bored ...
go here.   Ummmm ... love you!! 
So ... for most of my life, I loved Christmas.  I mean ... there aren't enough words.  If you'd come into my house five years ago, you would've either been delighted or shocked at the amount of lights that were hung inside my house.  Lights on the banister ... lights around the archway between the dining room and living room ... lights on my china hutch ... lights on the tree (of course).   I used to joke that it look like my house was carpet-bombed with thousands of Italian twinkle lights.

I have about ten tubs of various decor.  One tub that is full of greenery and bows for the porch.  Another tub is full of lighted ceramic Santa houses or Christmas trees.  I used to have one tub that was overflowing with ornaments.  I have special Christmas china that Miniature Moose always arranged for me on the hutch.  I even have a ceramic cathedral that my mom painted that lights up.

But ... you know ... things happened.  And they happened, unfortunately, at Christmas.   So the holidays become a kind of ground zero ... a blast zone full of every bad thing.  I did the absolute least I could do last year ... I even walked away from my cart and left a store once when the Christmas music became unbearable.  The only tree I saw last year was Stoney's ... and I only gave out a handful of gifts ... which were wrapped on my bedroom floor ... and remained there until it was time to give them away.

I wouldn't say I was a Grinch?  I certainly didn't want to deny anyone else their eggnog or cheer.  But I ate at two separate Chinese buffets on Christmas day.  That is how un-invested I was in the season.

But this year ... I think I might be un-thawing a little.  I dug out my iPod Touch ... which I don't use anymore.  I wiped it clean and filled it with Christmas music.  Then I took out my dad's tree decoration this afternoon and hung it on the porch and lit it ... I put up a couple window stars and lit those as well.  I put a garland on the banister and brought up the white ceramic tree and plugged it in.   I haven't gone full-on elf or anything ... but I dipped my toe in the water and it wasn't too bad.

No no ... I'm not going to put up everything.   Even at my most cheerful, I always waited until after Thanksgiving to do the decorating.  But since we're having Thanksgiving at Stoney's, I have a little wiggle room to do things over here.  After putting up a bit here and and a bit there ... I actually started addressing Christmas cards.  It's been a nice evening!

So ... I'm getting better?  I still cringed the other day when I heard the Beach Boys singing "Little Saint Nick" at the mall.  But now that I'm thinking about it ... I may have always cringed at that song ...

Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye.
Tell me, baby,
Do you recognize me?
Well,
It's been a year,
It doesn't surprise me

Wham! - Last Christmas