Christmas Sh*t

Here we are, the first week in January off to a good start and well under way. Suddenly Christmas is over. We've gone from "Christmas is Coming the Goose is Getting Fat" to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" and almost to "My Funny Valentine" in no time at all. Around town and in the country you still see a few homes with lights. Several yards are still populated with inflatable holiday figures like Santa and Frosty although many of them are now neglected deflated dirty carcasses.

So, while every parent in the US rejoices at having the kids back in school, those of us who were unable to get it done New Year's weekend now face the dreaded clean-up. As Tam so aptly put it Wednesday morning: "I gotta start taking care of all this Christmas sh*t."  Hmmm. Not a phrase my mother would have chosen but certainly succinct and to the point. So much for "Deck the Halls." The holidays have definitely lost that new car smell, so to speak.

By Wednesday evening our house was pretty much swept clean of all the Christmas decor. I'm grateful for that for a couple of reasons. First, it's a tedious job, one I thoroughly dislike. Second, I hate the thought of being that house you drive by the second week in January and still see the tree through the window.  You see those houses with the decorations up well into January and you know: They're not observing the twelve days of Christmas. No. They're just lazy bums.

I'm happy to report we've done our job. The Christmas sh*t is just about all cleaned up. Just one more half-gallon of peppermint-stick ice cream and we'll have completely purged the place. I'll do my part.