'Tis the Season

When asked what their favorite holiday is, most people will tell you Christmas.  I personally prefer Thanksgiving or the 4th of July.  Christmas is the last holiday on my list for reasons I can only tell my therapist.  I'm a Grinch.  All is not lost, though.  There are a few things that make me jolly for the holidays, along with reasons to leave the boxes of lights and garlands in the basement. 

Jolly: I love the lights.  I drive by Temple Square on my way home from work every night and just that 10 seconds looking at the lights brings me great joy.  Our neighborhood should rename our street to Christmas Lane because everyone has lights on their houses.  Sometimes JW and I will drive the long way home just to enjoy the lights in the neighborhood. 

Grinch: G will not put lights on our house.  Apparently this is a provision in our marital contract. So I do it every year.  Except, I am too chicken to climb the ladder to the highest pitch on the roof, so I just put lights on our bushes and around the windows and porch.  Last year half of the lights blitzed mid way through December and some jerk kids put our lighted reindeer in a precarious position.

Jolly: I LOVE glass ornaments.  The old world vintage kind with Santas, teapots, the pickle, icicles, etc. My entire tree is decorated with vintage glass ornaments, many of them nearly 100 years old.  My tree sparkles. It makes me so happy.

Grinch: I have a curious two year old.  Vintage glass ornaments just seem like a bad idea.  So I bought a box of shatter-proof (read: plastic) ornaments from the Costco knowing that JW would not be able to resist touching every "bulpt" (bulb) on the tree.  Now my tree has no soul.

Jolly:  This year I bought a pre-lit tree with zillions of white lights after more than 10 years with an old 6 ft. cheap-o delux tree that I spent 2 hours stringing 50 sets of lights to every year. Pre-lit has changed my life forever.

Grinch: Why didn't I do that 10 years ago?


What's your favorite holiday?