'Tis the Season

Stupid movers.

I have not sent in my moving damages report; I knew that I needed a chance to go through the Christmas decorations before I could say with any degree of certainty just how much has been broken/lost/mistreated.

Today we hauled out the Christmas decorations. I had time - the next couple of weekends will be busy - the girls were free, and we figured the time was right.

For reasons best explained by others, the movers took it upon themselves to repack some of our decorations. Not all, just some. Which means that some were packed badly (the Weihnachts Pyramide is broken); some were packed stupidly (they reorganized my boxes). I hate opening a box that says "Christmas," only to find that it is full of 17 unrelated items, one of which is vaguely Christmas-themed.

There is no sign of some of the holiday greenery. But I'm guessing it will turn up. Or the missing greenery will make its way into my damages claim.

We had a lovely afternoon, listening to Dean Martin sing Christmas carols as we assembled our various and sundry decorations. I was hesitant to get all this stuff out. I remember way back when, all our decorations fit into two boxes. Well, not anymore. We have way more than we need, and it is all organized so poorly (thanks, Allied). Plus our house is such a mess - where to put all this stuff? Next year will be better.

But the time is upon us, so we have to celebrate. So up went the tree, up go the decorations.



Maddie hung the star on the tree. (Dig the '70s track lighting behind her - no, we have not done a thing to the living room yet.)



Alison and Sylvia made pumpkin bread. Look closely at the ugly kitchen - its days are numbered.



Here are our German Rauchermänner - little smoking men. You light incense inside them and they smoke. Adorable - they are handmade and come from Ergzgebirge. Sehr niedlich!



The stockings are hung by the chimney with care ...



And here's the tree, in all its glory. I am debating whether or not to put up the other (gulp) three trees. Is one not enough? I knew a guy in high school whose family had 45 trees - 45? To be fair, many of them were small, table-top trees. And it was kind of cool - it was their schtick, so to speak.

But wow - I am having a hard time dealing with four. We would like to do the three-story Christmas tree (a tradition started by someone who used to live in my neighborhood, since abandoned because they moved. But we have the perfect house: Three windows in the front of the house, three stories, all in a row.) But if I do that, then must I use all white lights (so as to achieve the desired effect)? Then what do I do with the red lights and those decorations? And it still doesn't solve the problem of where to put the Evergleam - I just don't have room ... is it any wonder this season causes so much stress?

For now, we will settle for one - I'll think about the others later. Later - this is my mantra. Deal with it later.

So, later. That's when I'll be back. Happy Holidays, all!