Yesterday’s clean was the easiest clean we have had in weeks! We were done in a couple of hours, out the door by noon. This was like almost having another day off and it was really great. After finishing yesterday’s clean, we drove by the clean we have for today, just to check it out so we know what we are walking into. I like to do that, when I can, so that we are not just prepared cleaning supply-wise, but mentally. This also gives me the chance to spray down an oven that is particularly bad so it isn’t such a bear to clean the next day. Fortunately, the clean we have scheduled today looks to be a breeze, no pre-clean oven spray down needed, and we should be done fairly quickly. It’s a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse, so we won’t be done quite as quickly as we were yesterday with the 1 bedroom, 1 bath, but it shouldn’t be a long day at all. YAY!!
My daughter and I were looking at Christmas lights and decorations yesterday. Not the ones people have put up at their homes, but in the store. Man! There have been some changes in Christmas decorations and lights over the past 6 years!!
Sure, there are the usual, tried and true decorations, but the new things, the new styles of lights, of light up characters, the new styles and selections for Christmas tree ornaments…well, lets just say one could go broke fairly quickly. 🙂 A ball park figure of what it would cost me if I were to get everything I want for the perfect outdoor Christmas decorating would be around $500. There is no way I could ever begin to justify spending that much on Christmas decorations at this point in my life, but it would be fun to do so. This year, I am going to be happy with what I can do.
Walking through all of the decorations at the store reminded me of how much I really enjoy this time of year. I had made myself forget that because it was easier, in a way, than facing another Christmas unable to do anything. I love the decorating (I’m more of the type of less is more decorator), all the different ornaments, lights, stuffs. The little kid in me gets to come out and play. I plan an outdoor scene, and I can see what it will look like in my head, and…well, it makes me smile.
I’m excited for my next paycheck. It’s a really good one and after I have paid all that needs to be paid, set up the different cards that keep us alive between paychecks, put some money in the savings I have started plus a little for unexpected things, I’ll be getting some decorations for the first time in 6 years. The little kid in me is doing the happy dance. Heck! The adult is dancing right along side the kid. There is even a little, fake (something I said I’d never own) Christmas tree that I fell in love with that I can set up outside. Its only about 3-1/2 – 4 feet tall, but it will do just nicely with the other decorations I am hoping to get, and it is only $25!!
I’ll, of course, be taking pictures once I’ve decorated and posting them on here, because they will be the most amazing decorations (to me) because they are mine and I haven’t done this in so long. In reality, they won’t be much, but they will be something, which is joyful enough on its own. I’m excited just thinking/dreaming about it!!!
I’ve come to realize that this is really what Christmas is to me. It’s not the presents, really, though those are always nice. It’s the magic that the decorations provide. Its the happiness they represent to me. I believe that part of me sees Christmas decorations as something that is much harder to see the rest of the year: unadulterated peace/happiness. For a little while, every night turns the world into a place of serenity where the ugliness that is life too much of the time can’t enter and I get to look at life through the unjaded eyes of a child, with eyes that can still see magic everywhere.
Next week, I’ll get to add to the fantasy. I’M SO EXCITED!!
Dragonfly Gypsy USA 