Elf Wanted

I just glanced at my calendar to see we're just two and a half weeks away from Christmas. Based on the amount of preparation I have done up to now, I'd say Christmas is going to be very low key around here.

My dear husband got the Christmas spirit the day after Thanksgiving. Here it was in the 70s and a gorgeous day. Traditionally it is a great day to put up your lights. I was exhausted from a day of cooking and entertaining that had evolved into a night of entertaining, so I haphazardly participated, not quite ready for Christmas.

Mark got out the lights and proceeded to determine what worked and what didn't. We lost one of our two large evergreens out front this year, so we had a few extra lights from that tree, which I had enjoyed decorating with large balls and ornaments. (I sort of wonder if I killed it doing that. The balls were all made in China.)

Anyway, Mark took a strand of those big, old fashioned lights and strung them along the front of our porch. He did this while I was checking email or something, and when I came out, I wasn't thrilled. But, trying hard to have some Christmas spirit, I didn't say anything, then.
Instead, I suggested that we head to town to see if we could find a new "show piece" for our outdoor lighting display. I wanted a large "PEACE" sign, the words, not the symbol, that could present my goal for this holiday to the neighborhood. Mark reluctantly agreed, reminding me that it was Black Friday and WalMart would be a zoo. I convinced him that would be half the fun and off we went.

Either WalMart decided no one wanted holiday decorations this year or they were all sold out, because the shelves there were void of my giant "PEACE" sign and anything else that might have been considered as a "Show Piece." We bought some toilet paper and left.

We headed to Lowes to see what we could find there. They had all sorts of those big blow-up things, even a Santa golfer with a bunch of elves who spun around to swing at the ball. It was pretty cool, but just wasn't what I had in mind. There were no lighted Peace signs, and only a handful of other things that I felt might work as a "back-up" plan. None thrilled me. So we left Lowes empty handed and returned home.

So for the last week, as the weather has turned cold and the rain has come in buckets, our house has had just one sorry strand of lights (silly old fashioned lights) on it. I haven't even bothered to turn them on. A few neighbors have somehow managed to get their lights up, and some displays are very nice. But participation this year seems down. I hope it's due to the weather and not to the economy. I guess time will tell.

Inside, my house has fared a little better, but not much. Mark pulled down a dozen or so boxes marked "Christmas," and I have made a few feeble efforts to decorate, but I'm not thrilled with the results just yet, and the boxes I want seem to be missing.

We also had a sad mishap this weekend when I headed to the attic to find my missing boxes. I was looking for my ceramic lighted Christmas tree and all the pieces of my Nativity Set. The tree was a gift from Mark's mom when we first got married. We have had it more than 20 years. I love it. It stays on the entire holiday season and has beautiful lights. I've seen other ceramic trees like this at craft fairs and such, but ours has always been the prettiest to me.

Mark followed me up to the attic where I found a box that I peeked into that seemed to contain my Christmas pillows. It wasn't very heavy, and not very big. I certainly didn't think it contained our favorite ceramic tree when I handed it to Mark and said, "This is pillows, just toss it down." Mark tossed the box down the steps to a resulting smattering of broken ceramic and lights. He looked down the ladder, and sure enough, our ceramic tree had been tucked lovingly in between two Christmas pillows, and it now lay in a million pieces.

I took the blame, but Mark felt the guilt. I tried to be non-chalant, but he was less so. He went downstairs to clean up the mess while I kept looking for my Nativity scene and tried not to be bummed out about our favorite tree, although the incident definitely put a damper on my decorating plans and enthusiasm for the task. It took Mark totally out of the game, so I got bored quick too and quit.

So at this point, that's the status. The fireplace mantle has been cleared and our stockings are hung. A couple wreathes have been hung outside on either side of the front door and a few more are scattered around the porch. I poured through the women's mags over the weekend and got all sorts of ideas. But nothing is done. Not yet. My inspiration is here, but my action plan is not.

So I'm looking for an elf. I'm praying for an elf. I want someone to inspire me and get me going on the decorating part of Christmas. To me, it's the best part. I always love my home when it's decorated for Christmas inside and out. I love getting up in the morning and plugging in the tree so that our home is festive at breakfast and throughout the day. I love turning on the outdoor lights at dark. We just aren't there yet, and time is fleeting.

And don't even ask me about shopping. I haven't done a thing other than ask people "What do you want for Christmas" and get "I dunno" as the answer. It's all good though. The holidays are not about the material things but the celebration. But that doesn't change the fact that a Christmas elf who could light a fire under me this year would be a handy thing to have.