Well, it is official!  My very favorite time of year has begun!  I absolutely, unequivocally love the Christmas season!  I start decorating my house right around the 1^st of November and it does not come down until January 1st.  I would probably leave it up even longer, but once I gave birth to my son on January 2nd, I decided that I never wanted Christmas to run into his birthday.  I’ve always felt like he kind of gets “jipped” anyway being born so close to the holidays, that taking down my massive display of decorations before his big day was just a small way I could see to it that his birthday remained as special as it deserves to be.

Anyway, I get tons of slack from my friends for decorating so early and believe me, when Corey became a part of this family; he didn’t take to the tradition that well at first either.  As a matter of fact, we were just talking today about the first Christmas we were together and he specifically remembers me decorating like a crazy person well into the wee hours of the morning….and it was only the first week in November.  He thought I had lost my mind, but he has come to accept, and dare I say, enjoy my enthusiasm over this great holiday season.  Moreover, I decorate so big that to go through days of work only to enjoy it for a couple of weeks, just doesn’t make sense to me.

I would be remiss to not mention that while friends may tease me, my family thinks nothing of it. Starting with my grandma and my mom and working its way down to even my aunts and cousins…everyone in my family decorates early and decorates BIG! My grandma’s balcony at her apartment complex is blinking and twinkling brightly before Thanksgiving and she leaves it up until nearly February. My mom….oh my goodness….words fail me when it comes to my mom’s holiday décor. She truly should be working for Macy’s or some other massive department store. She adorns dozens of pine trees with lights, outlines her entire home with lights, eliminates the pathway to the front door with an array of candy canes and snowmen lanterns and that’s just the outside, which is quite understated compared to the inside. When you walk into her home, it is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s truly a magical experience and every year, she somehow manages to outdo herself. I mean, I’m not exaggerating here when I say she could sell tickets, put up velvet ropes in front of her displays, and allow people to tour the Winter Wonderland that is Victoria’s home. I think the last time I counted, she puts up roughly 10 trees and they all carry a different theme. My favorite is her Doctor Seuss tree. She has such a gift for decorating that I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that at Christmas, it’s no different. We all decorate big, but compared to my mom….well, she’s definitely in a league of her own.

So, as people are asking me “don’t you think it’s kind of early to be decorating for Christmas already?” To these nay-sayers, I simply point out that if the local radio stations start playing Christmas music on November 1^st, then I clearly have a green light to start the festivities!

I love it, the kids love it and look forward to it each year, and Corey has been gracious enough to accept it, so no matter how insane people think I am, I am going to continue the tradition, which means decorating starts this week…….let the holidays begin!! ;o)