Taking It Down

In the "olden days" I would decorate the house for Christmas on about December 10 -15, and take it all down on December 26. Putting up and taking down were a chore, and while Tyler and Jenna would help putting up, the taking down was horrid, and the family was always "busy." Taking down Christmas used to mean taking 20 strands of lights off a dead and dry tree/s, and then removing decorations from every room in our house, plus whatever was decorating the outside of our home. Some items could be thrown away, like the giant bowl and garland of Mandarin oranges with clove infusions and lemon leaves, dried pomegranates, and star anise. Other things needed to be recorded, such as the decorations the kids had made (I still have many of them) and the decorations received from friends.

It would take me all day to remove these decor, then another day to clean and put up winter decorations. What? Yeah, winter decorations! These included snowmen, snowflakes, the dolls I'd made - complete with sled, and the antique winter ephemera collected over the years. And of course, we'd be finding the forgotten decorations for another 6 months.

Yesterday I slept most of the day, so I'm a day behind. But with the help of trusted Kristee, Christmas will be down and put up in about an hour, and the house will be winterized - wreath on the front door, in about 10 minutes. I can't say I miss a tree or the work entailed in making the home a Modern Display showcase.

I'm content -