Christmas Can Come Now

December 23, 2008

Last time I posted Erin was still singing

"Hark the herald angels shout
Two more days 'til school is out."

I, on the other hand, was hoping school would last another ten days so I could get ready for Davis's arrival and Christmas. As it was, I had two blissful days lined up: Davis not home yet; Walter still working; Erin still in school. So when Shirlene and Mary Ann asked me how I was going to spend the day on Thursday, it didn't seem unusual at all to say, "I plan to clean the attic." The way they looked at me implied that not everyone (or anyone) they knew had similar aspirations for the Thursday before Christmas.

I knocked that off the list, got some late shopping in, then turned my attention to the real victim of the season, my house.

Didn't I read that if you gave your house a super-duper deep cleaning for Thanksgiving, it would last until Christmas? I'm not sure where I saw the article--I read Smithsonian, Consumer Reports, and The New York Times--but I really expected my house to stay clean for at least a month (and don't you dare roll your eyes). Alas, you can't believe everything you read. The cobwebs on the twenty-four foot ceiling have re-spun themselves, the toilets have soiled themselves, and the windows have grown nearly opaque.

That means that I had a lot to do before I could get Christmas under way, and I'm happy to say that with a little help, the house looks fairly presentable. A few dirty spots still linger, but not in the immediate public area of the house (you can come in the great room, but everything else is off limits).

Slowly, but surely we have knocked out the must-do pre-Christmas items on the list. We have a tree. We have all the gifts made or bought and some actually wrapped under said tree. We have the Christmas music piping through the house until some annoyed family member shuts it off and Walter put up the blue lights outside before the last cold front. I got my mams o'grammed this morning. And we tanked up Erin's platelets this evening just in case she feels like falling on her knees in delight at any point on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

Erin had her own list of pre-Christmas activities. You'd think someone counting down the days until school dismisses for the holidays would run home as soon as the bell had rung. Not Erin, she stayed at school last Friday until 5:30 going to Chess Club or Science Bowl or maybe both. I don't know. Since then, she has kept her friends entertained by arranging company almost every day. Jackson came over Friday night. Clayton Sue buzzed in from Fort Worth on Saturday, and her grandparents graciously share her with us for several hours. Aaron Wunneburger left his dad to put the lights on their tree on Sunday afternoon to hang out, and Ayesha made Tuesday a great affair with her unexpected but most welcome visit on Tuesday afternoon.

Christmas is coming on Thursday, whether I'm exactly ready or not, so I say "Come on." I may have only written four Christmas cards (and they are not mailed yet, thus automatically turning them into New Year's cards), and I completely forgot to put on the wooden bead garlands on the tree before we decorated it. I'm ready in my heart even if I don't have everything precisely arrange.