Halls are decked!

After Thanksgiving dinner, Auntie Mame and the game, we emerged outdoors to find that it had cooled down considerably and Christmas lights were up.  Sinatra could be faintly heard crooning The Christmas Waltz (my favorite holiday song). It's the holidays! We got home at 11pm and  I managed  to find the energy to open the shed in the dark and fumble around for our vintage Noel candle lights.

I had a friend in elementary school who would invite me to her house the day after Thanksgiving to spend the night. We'd be super hyper on Barbies, Atari and lots of leftover pie  but what would have us soaring was the putting up of her artificial tree. Her mother would set the whole thing up and every year said,"Christmas goes up after Thanksgiving and comes down after Christmas Day".  I couldn't believe her tree had to come down after Christmas Day, at my house it didn't come down until After January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas and official end of the holiday season. It went up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Had  to be up before December 5th.

A friend of mine put her tree up last weekend and wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner by Christmas lights. If we didn't do a real tree, I'd probably do that. I saw trees in windows this year as early as October 31st. I am not kidding! I counted three in my neighborhood alone. That's a bit too early for me but I do begin Christmas music the day after Halloween. Used to be cds in the car and work computer but now with the I-Pod it's what I am listening too as I stand in line at the grocery store buying last minute Halloween candy.

On this Black Friday I am hitting all the Christmas Tree stands I can to smell the arrival of the Christmas season. On the itinerary is a Christmas tree farm on  Monkey Road in Elgin,TX! I love to see people driving around with Christmas trees in tow on their way home.  Gotta go, it's time to drag out the decor, busy day!

How is it that in April it feels as though Christmas was just yesterday but in June, it's right around the corner? The slipped through my fingers in June. I feel as though I just put up the decorations.