The Eve of Christmas Decorating

Some of you call today Thanksgiving. Some call it the eve of Black Friday. In my world today is the eve of Christmas decorating. Yes, we gave thanks today. Carter and I cooked up a storm for a meal for four that could have served 20.

“Mom, why did you get an eighteen pound turkey?”

“Because it takes the same amount of time and work to make it and once I have done it I will have all those leftovers to make turkey dishes for your father to eat all through the holiday season, while I am busy cooking for holiday parties that he won’t be going to.”

“Why won’t he be going to them?”

“Because they are for needlepoint, or garden club or other ladies things he is not part of.”

The real reason is I don’t want to be bothered with cooking anything else for the next three days so I can throw Christmas up all over our house.

Russ and Carter consider tomorrow the worst day of the year because they have to take all the boxes out of the attic and help get the tree up. The tree is so much easier than it used to be, but that does not alleviate their disdain for the day of decorating, even though neither of them hand one ornament or wreath.

I hope you all had a gentle day of giving thanks with loved ones. No fighting, bickering or disappointment. I hope your turkey was juicy and plentiful. I hope your travels were uneventful.

For me it is a day to rest up. To prep for the sprint of making magic appear. The race of decorating the whole house in three days begins in the morning. So farewell pilgrims and turkeys. So long cornucopia and pecan pies.

Tomorrow is peppermint, sparkle and lights. Pine, festive bows and garland appear. Heralding the happy season I wait for all the year.