It's the Holiday Season

Happy Holidays everyone!

Yes, I do say holidays because within six weeks there is Thanksgiving, Chanukah/Hanukkah (dec 8-16), Christmas and New Years and I cannot combine them into anything pronounceable. The closest I have is Happy Thankskahmasear. I have enough issues with word pronunciation, I don't need to make it harder on myself.

I have found the perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving. Allow your mother to call you in July and say she and your father are coming for Thanksgiving. Make sure she and your sister will be doing the cooking (this is essential). Then invite friends over and assign them to bring something. All I had to do was unlock the front door. Perfect!

A Detroit Lions loss (shocker), seventeen people, ten bottles of wine and several beers later it was a party!

There were several flippings of the bird, both fingers and the turkey; a threat of fire, and only eight chairs. We were surrounded by good friends and good food, it was perfect.

The best part of Thanksgiving? It gives way into the Christmas season. I no longer have to secretly listen to Christmas music in my car or through headphones. I am able to play my favorite Christmas movies on the large screen instead of my laptop and I get to wear my Elf hat.

There is tons of candy and Chex's Puppy Chow (if you call it Muddy Buddies you do not deserve presents this year).

The stockings are hanging by the chimney with care, with lovely garland with lights on the mantle.

The perfect corner for the perfect tree is empty.

The tree substitute with its teeny tiny tree-like-shaped-thing that fits in a small corner and holds ornaments is up in the kitchen. I'm still angry about the stupid fake impostor with its stupid plasticness. I'm not going to rant again, if you missed it last year here it is.

The upside to the fake tree this year?

We get to go home for Christmas this year. This is the first time since I moved out here I will be returning home for Christmas. And there better be snow!

As per tradition the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas lights went up on the house. It was your typical lights on the house adventure. Me trying not to fall off the roof in the pouring rain. I'm not a fan of heights. My fear of heights has been decreased to a dislike. So you put me on the roof in the rain, and I am not going to be moving very fast.  It  was a slow and steady process until I said the gutters were overflowing. Not surprising as we were out in the pouring rain.

My goal for lights to be on both levels of the house went out the window when my dad and husband began cleaning out the gutters as we attached the lights to the house.

As Chris and I attached lights my dad put his hand in the nasty gutter and came up with a handful of gunk. Chris did the same. I was not putting my hand in there. There could have been a crocodile. Probably not. Most likely a swamp monster.

I continued hanging lights, Chris took the peak over the garage and my dad began to rake out the gunk.

Then Chris began to rake out the gunk on the upper level of our roof. He did not take lights up there with him. I finished my strand, my dad fastened to the shingles since I couldn't lift the shingles off the roof (there may or may not be a leaking roof later).

Cold and wet I went inside to decorate.

Chris and my dad made it their goal to fix the gutters. For the most part it is fixed, thanks to a scrap piece of wood from our neighbors. Don't worry they already know we're weird.

Lights are up. Gutters are working, and now we begin the Christmas Season with some lights and music. In the words of the Muppets:

It's time to start the music. It's time to light the lights!