Decking the Halls...

"I'm not ready..." I whine, but in the words of the Grinch, "..somehow or other, it came just the same." We're talking Christmas here, as you've no doubt figured out. My living and dining rooms look like an explosion at the North Pole, blessedly sans elf body parts. Boxes, bags, knickknacks, stuffed animals, Santas, ornaments, candles...and more boxes. No wonder we have a storage space as big as our house. Half of it is Christmas. And unfortunately, part of it is still in storage. I can't seem to locate my tree skirt, my Nativity set, my fake pine roping (did I throw it away last year?) or any number of other Christmas necessities. Jake, however, had no trouble finding his niche as I readied the big wreaths for the outside windows..Here is a cat in search of a Friskies modeling contract.

I haven't put out the Christmas dishes, or assembled any greenery--and somehow the sticks and dried flowers and berries of Thanksgiving don't say "Christmas" to me. On the plus side, the tree has been delivered and is smelling very Christmas-y. It looks like someone designed it for a Christmas card--perfectly shaped, with nice full branches: no 'holes' to be filled with strategically-placed lights and ornaments. It is the prettiest tree we've had in a couple years. Yet to be decorated with lights and ornaments.

I am now faced with the annual 15-puzzle task of moving our belongings around in order to make room for decorations. If the hydrangea wreath is moved to a box, I can take the red wreath out of its box and hang it. If the Thanksgiving candles are removed, I can put them in the space currently occupied by the red candles in the sideboard. If I empty the storage box with the Christmas stockings, will there be room for the rabbit from the mantle and the pictures from the shelves which need to be moved so I can put out the Santa collection...? And hovering over all these questions is the big one: if I put this away somewhere, will I ever find it again?

Fa-la-la.