My husband is never thrilled about the prospect of putting up the lights this year. Of course, it can be a royal pain - even more so with his back, neck & knee problems. But he usually does it because the kids and I love them so much. When he surprised my daughter and I by putting them up while we were out, my daughter nearly squealed with delight - not the thing you get to hear very often from a surly teenager! She proclaimed our decorations as "legit."
I am in charge of getting the lights on the tree and getting it decorated. And no one else is allowed to set up my village but me. My husband has named the village "Tiny Town." The village started with my mother-in-law. She gave me my first piece the first Christmas after my husband and I were married and would give me a new piece each year. When Mervyn's Department Stores closed, where she had been getting them, I had to find another outlet. Luckily, I have been able to secure pieces from Walmart and even Dollar General.
Our cats, especially Thomas, think that they belong in Tiny Town. Thomas has taken to swatting the skaters off the ice rink. This isn't the first invasion that Tiny Town has endured. A few years ago, my daughter placed small ceramic wolves and Pokemon characters in Tiny Town. The good townspeople have yet to complain. I have been known to give them a few speeches, too - after all, I feel that I am mayor-for-life of Tiny Town!
One of my favorite things to do in the holiday season is to ride around and look at Christmas lights. I draw the line at going places where you have to pay to go in to see the lights - it just feels wrong to me. When we lived in the New Orleans area, we would usually make the yearly pilgrimage to the home of the late Al Copeland, the founder of Popeye's. He had a huge, lavish, outrageous, gorgeous display in front of his house near Lake Ponchartrain. The neighbors hated the traffic and tried to have him shut down every year. But many people - me included - loved the over-the-top display.
This year, on the weekend before Christmas, my husband, our daughter and I went for a drive to look at lights in our area. Of course, my son would rather stay at home online than share this experience with us. I must say that we have become what you could call "light snobs." Some people look like they put less than minimal effort in their lights. We felt they should have saved that two minutes it took to put them up. And I like displays that aren't like everybody else's. The year that everybody had white icicle lights made a rather dull one. The inflatable snow globes have become rather passe'. I have gotten to really love nativity scenes - but I will never be good with Santa kneeling by the baby Jesus - don't get me started.
It seems like the lights are up for such a short time. I haven't mentioned it, but I feel there should be some sort of punishment for people who put up lights before Thanksgiving! As soon as Christmas day has passed, a lot of people get lax about even turning their lights on. Mine will still be on...probably until Epiphany. Then it's king cake season!
Happy New Year! May 2013 be a fabulous one for us all!
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