Holiday Crunch Time

It's that time of year!

Every Christmas I find that I cannot enjoy the holiday unless I put out all the little items that recall memories of Christmas' past. While this may sound like a sweet and sentimental tradition, it has become a major holiday event in my home, one that harks headaches, frustrations and numerous runs to Home Depot to pick up lights, extension cords and duct tape.

This one-day marathon event begins at the crack of dawn (I cannot stay in bed as my mind wakes with the thoughts of all the work I need to get done). It ends when I have put up the last ornament and turned on every window candle in the house OR when I collapse from sheer exhaustion, whichever comes first.

The evening before "the big event," I have a wild panic that sweeps over me. Visions of broken bulbs, tangled garland and finding where I put the timer for the spotlight dance through my head, making sleep difficult.

I will begin the day cleaning the house. I refuse to put up the decorations until every last dust bunny has surrendered. I vacuum, dust, wash and polish. ...and then decorating begins.

I'll drag boxes up and down the stairs for hours, carefully unpacking and placing items all over the house. Then I'll pack all the displaced items and haul them back down the stairs. This will all be accomplished with the precision and focus of a madwoman.

I obsess over the smallest details, wondering if that snowman would look better here, or there. Eventually, I carefully place each item in the exact same spot it was in the previous year.

By the time all this is over, I look and feel like a woman who has been trekking through the jungle: totally exhausted, dripping in sweat, hair flying. Not a pretty picture.

What is wrong with me! Every Christmas I pledge to myself that this will not happen. When Christmas is over, I gently pack away all my beloved holiday treasures, vowing that I am saying goodbye for the last time. I always assure myself that NEXT year, I will minimize the decorating and keep everything simple.

But when all is said and done, Christmas just isn't the same without those small reminders of holidays past. Surrounded by every Christmas I have known and comforted by the familiar, I am filled with warmth. It's all worth it!