It's beginning to look...

...a lot like Christmas! Yes, the holiday season is upon us. I usually put up the decorations after Thanksgiving, and every year it seems to take longer than the year before. It could be that I tend to add new decorations every year. (I average one new plastic bin a year.) It could be that we move so often we rarely spend more than one Christmas in any one place, which means I have to take time to plan and measure to see where the decorations will look best in our new place. Or it could be that I'm hobbling around these days.

Apparently, I have an ailment where the hormone that is supposed to "loosen" my ligaments to make room for the baby is working overtime. This makes certain movements like sitting, standing, laying down, walking, breathing and blinking extremely painful for me. So this year I sat on the couch and directed the kids to do the decorating. It took those little slackers most of the day to do it to my specifications! (I'm kidding, of course. Like I would let those little monkeys touch my decorations! Kids have "jam hands" you know...)

This is the first year that I was able to put lights on the outside of the house. In the past, we have lived in apartment buildings, but this year we live in a townhouse, so I took advantage and clipped some lights to the gutters. I got in trouble for this. First from my neighbor, who said I was "opening a can of worms" and now his live-in girlfriend was going to make him decorate the house too. (He was only a little bit kidding.) But also from the husband because I was trying to do it myself. (Memo to him: if you don't want me on a ladder, you should offer to help. Just a suggestion.)

Anyway, the effort of decorating can take the wind out from under you in the best of circumstances, and even more so if the simple effort of getting up off the floor is excruciating. Ordinarily I would self-medicate with red wine, but I don't even have that as an option these days. I'm trying a new medication, Lindt truffles, and that seems to be taking the edge off. So I think I'm going to lay on the couch surrounded by chocolate wrappers for a few days. You know...to recover. Happy decorating!