In the spirit . . .

Ok, so I'm one of THOSE people! You know the ones who go totally crazy with everything Christmas. I only have one strict rule . . . Christmas season begins on the Sunday after Thanksgiving . . . period! My parents left on Sunday morning, and we got started right away. Kevin helped me get the boxes of decorations out of the garage, Eddie and Emmitt inspected and smelled each item to make sure it was safe, and I dug in. It was truly a perfect day for decorating - the weather turned cold, I had stew in the oven (smelling sooooo good), and football was blaring on tv. Our first order of business was the tree, but of course we ran into some difficulty. Richard and Kathy to the rescue with the extra tree piece we couldn't locate (it was in their garage) and heavy lifting. Once the tree was assembled, I began lighting and fluffing. My ladder was in use because Eddie needed a nap on the top step, so I used a chair instead. The ornaments didn't take too long, and the tree turned out great. Kevin keeps using the word "obnoxious" to describe our tree, but I think "outstanding" works much better! I managed to find decorations for the desk (nutcrackers), entry way (vase with holiday spray), dining room (sparkle trees for centerpices), and kitchen table (ornaments napkin holders and shiny stars). There may be a few more items scattered throughout the house (I just don't want to make you all crazy imagining it all), but I'll stop there. The house is ready for Christmas! I've been enjoying holiday music in the car and at work, the three (sad, right?) gifts I've purchased are wrapped, holiday socks are available for each day, and Christmas cookies are already baking. Kevin is playing along well this year, although he is never a fan of holiday socks. It might help that he's the cookie test-taster!

One side note: pregnant ladies should NOT work so hard decorating for the holidays. Specifically, they should avoid boxes, ladders and stepping on chairs for 6 hours straight. I ended up in so much pain Sunday evening and Monday. I try not to be such a wimp and leave work for no reason, but I had to come home and rest Monday afternoon. I felt much better after 4 hours of couch time. Gazing at my beautiful tree might have helped my aching back . . . not sure! I'm happy to report I'm fine now and have resumed all regular activities. Baby Kuhlman was pretty worn out and didn't do much for a day or two, but he's resumed his regular activities as well. We've all learned our lesson about overdoing it, and we'll have lots of help to put away all of these fabulous decorations after the holidays.