Decking the Halls

     Deck the halls with boughs of holly
     Fa la la la la la la la la
     Tis the season to be jolly
     Fa la la la la la la la la
     Don we know our gay apparel
     Fa la la la la la la la la
     Troll the ancient Yule Tide Carol
     Fa la la la la la la la la
   

So the carol goes.  How do you deck your halls?  We go all out.  It takes at least two weekends to get everything just the way I like it, and that's just outside.  In side well, that's another story.  Christmas goes up gradually inside, and comes down the same way when the holidays are over.  I LOVE Christmas.  I take great care to make sure my house is clean and tidy before the decorations go up.  It's a labor of love that starts Thanksgiving weekend.  We have an artificial tree that I've had since Kaysie was a baby.  We do a real tree every couple of years, but they tend to be messy and expensive and I have to de-decorate sooner.   One year I got a real tree dirt cheap and that thing stayed alive until New Years.  That was great!  My mom is coming for the holidays this year so we are doing the artificial tree because I want everything done before she arrives.  We have special lights for inside and a big wreath over the fireplace and frosted swags for the mantle as well as candles and an Advent wreath for the dinning room table .  It's really pretty once it all gets up.
      Now about the outside...I bring the inside outside which for me is really fun.  I don't draw the curtains much around Christmas.  I love being able to see the tree all lit up out our living room window.  Our windows are big picture windows and it just looks so pretty.  I also put electric candles in the bedroom windows and ice-cycle lights around the windows inside.  We can't do outside because we live on the second floor.  A couple of years ago we won the decorating contest.  I put everything on timers so they all came on at dark and went off as we were going to bed.  This year should be no different.  That's one of the joys of Christmas for me decorating inside and out.  I love walking around our complex and our neighborhood to look at the lights.  Our neighbors go all out too.
      My uncle is a decorating legend.  When my cousins Charlie & Kari were small my uncle made a huge star to put on top of their house.  Every year that he put that thing up there was always a huge storm.  He'd get up on the roof in the wind and rain just to put that star up.  My Aunt swore for years that he'd wait until there was a Nor'Easter roaring up the east coast before he'd put the star up.  Some years it went up early, and some years it went up closer to Christmas, but it always went up in the middle of a raging storm!  He still puts the star up, but now he does it in better weather I think.
      I was listening to Delilah the other night and she was talking about author Debbie Macomber and how she loves Christmas.  Delilah said that Debbie starts decorating right after Halloween, and that her husband is a Bah Humbug kind of guy.  He says that's her thing.  I love that. Debbie is my kind of girl! Christmas makes me happy.  I needed a little Holiday Happy this year.  It hasn't been a bad year, I just needed a mood lift.  I put up my Christmas lights on my computer at work a couple weeks ago, and I just love to watch them twinkling away while I work.  I'm with Debbie, the earlier the better.  Bring on Christmas. It was a beautiful day here in the Great State of Oregon today.  Perfect "deck the halls" weather.  Clear blue sky, cold crisp air, and lots of lights!  It's time to deck your halls - lights are on sale at Home Depot so get out there and get busy!  Cheers!