Almost Done

I started putting the Christmas decorations away on Tuesday.  I'm not one of those people who has the tree taken down and disposed of on Boxing Day.  I was brought up in a house that kept everything up until after January 6th, that being Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas.  I try to do the same.

I say I try because after about the 3rd of January, all the Santas and holly and red and green really starts to get on my nerves.  And since it's usually so late in December when the damn stuff gets put up anyway, I like to make it worth my while.

First, it was the village which takes up the top of the buffet and the  set-up I call the clearing in the woods which takes up the top of the piano.  Boy likes to make up stories about the people in these places.  This year, the village was attacked by aliens and everyone was killed off with poison darts. I came downstairs one morning to see all the little figurines lying on their sides, quite dead.  The country people didn't fare any better;  they were attacked  and maimed by a rogue bear.

The next day, it was all the stuff that goes into the huge bin marked "House Decs."  That includes the 5,000 snow globes we have managed to collect. Luddite Granny and Grandpa with Jesus decided years ago that their grand-daughter would like a Christmasy snowglobe. Then when Boy came along, he got one too.  So that means two snow-globes a year for about 6 years.  Those bastards are heavy too when you get them all in one place.  Luckily, they seem hard to come by these days so we haven't added to our collection for awhile.

Yesterday it was the stuff that goes into the huge bin marked "Kitchen Decs".  This is the box I always leave stuff out of.  Weeks after everything has been put up on its shelf, I'll find a Santa glass or a poinsettia mug lurking in the cupboard.

Last night I tackled the tree.  We seem to have collected a vast amount of pewter decorations.  Again, Luddite Granny and Grandpa with Jesus started giving us a decoration every year and then they started giving the Trouts a decoration every year.  So now, we get 3, yes three pewter decorations every damn Christmas.  Would it be rude to ask Luddite Granny to stop with the fucking pewter?

Tonight, I will take off all the reflectors off the lights and Himself will take the lights off (because he's in charge of the lights) and the sad, bare tree will be finally disposed of.

Now you might be wondering to yourself, Jesus Murphy, Hen!  Do you have that much Christmas shit that it takes you 5 days to put it all away? 

No.  I could have put it away all in one day but those bloody Angry Birds kept distracting me.