O Christmas Tree, how lovely are your flip flops

So despite my previously mentioned seasonal issues, I do realize that in approximately 5 weeks Christmas day will be upon us. Which means decorating is right around the corner. Don't tell this to the Targets and Wal-Marts and malls of the world. They have been decorated since before Halloween. I, for one, refuse to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

When we were small, my family took the Friday after Thanksgiving to decorate the house. We were recovering from our turkey comas (who are we kidding, for me it was pie) and did not want to set foot outside, lest we freeze to death and/or get trampled at a nearby Black Friday Sale. So Al went up into the attic (she's the smallest and can fit into the opening the best) and Dad stood on the ladder and I took the boxes and lined them up in the garage. Mom supervised from inside. And then, as a family, we assembled the tree, unwrapped all the ornaments, and spent far too much time figuring out where they should go on the tree. In fact, this superb attention to detail usually resulted in eating leftovers in whatever spot you could find to sit, as the entire kitchen and family room were covered with decorations. And the project often carried on into Saturday. My poor parents. It was great fun (for us kiddos), and a tradition we continued until I graduated from college and moved out.

This year marks a changing of the guard, so to speak. It's the first Christmas Michael and I are married (but we've had 4 Christmases living together, so not a huge deal in that regard) but, most importantly, it is the first year we have a house! WITH A FRONT PORCH! THAT I CAN DECORATE WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS OHMYGOSH! This week I suddenly had an irrational fear that the stores, with their pre-Thanksgiving super marked-down decoration sales, would sell out of all the stuff I wanted for my porch. So what did I do? I went and bought all the accouterments today. I am now the proud owner of many feet of pre-lit garland, a light-up wreath complete with pinecones, a non-light up wreath with gold accents, window candles, and luminaries for the front walk. And of course, nothing says holiday spirit like driving to the store in flip flops and with the windows down... Definitely not an Ohio experience.

Sadly, my stash must remain in hiding for ten more days, until we are back from our Thanksgiving travels. But if you need to find me on November 30, you'll know where to look. I'll be on my front porch decorating it to the 9s. Wearing flip flops.