Christmas Take Down

Isn't it funny 

how differently you can feel about your Christmas decorations 

from when you first put them up 

to 

when you later take them down?

Or is it just me?

A month before Christmas,

I merrily danced around the house 

...decorating to

"I'm dreaming of a hark the herald angels sing."

...joyously hanging Christmas stockings, 

...gaily decorating the tree,

…attempting to remake the iconic

Currier & Ives Christmas. 

(Or at the very least, make it so it doesn’t look like Scrooge is in da house.) 

When I first pulled out the decorations...

I was like, 

“oooh, the wooden Elf from my first office Secret Santa” 

and

“ahhh, the shell ornament we picked out when we were on vacation in Florida.” 

But 

after Christmas is said and done...

after good Ol St. Nick has come and gone... 

after presents have been returned for new sizes or new items...

after we ate and drank everything in the house...

it comes time for a 

Christmas take down.

Suddenly my rose-colored glasses come off and 

I see things in a new light...  

the light of day...  

not the twinkling white nostalgic lights.

Now I'm like....

Hmmm....“What's so special about a wooden elf with a missing shoe?"

and 

Uggg..."that shell ornament was tacky and ugly to start. What was I thinking?”

The tree has even given up...

it looks like it is begging for the discard pile. 

Every last needle has landed on the floor and 

all the ornaments have inched their way down the branches.

The garland and knick knacks that don the mantle 

are the perfect dust collectors. 

The stockings hung by the chimney with care, 

are beginning to look like misfits from the dryer.

 I just can’t get this stuff down fast enough. 

I take one look around at my Currier and Ives Christmas and think, 

“This STUFF is out of here. 

I’ll give it a year, 

before I look at this again!” 

So I pack it away...starting with some organization…

family room stuff goes in the red box…

making sure Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are packed together.

(Hey, they would miss each other and that would be sad.)

After a while…any and all organization flies out the window. 

I randomly stuff the stuff into boxes.

 “I just want it out of here and back in storage."

Anywhooooo......

 I gotta cut this blog off here....

there's a 50 % sale on Christmas decorations ….

and

I gotta get more STUFF  treasures for next year.