Christmas has arrived.

Ok, so my Grinch mood has faded and now I'm feeling Christmas-y. It has been cold (I've actually built a couple of fires!) and the Christmas decorations are up. The cat is quite happy about the tree - last year she didn't care that we had a tree at all. This year she has discovered the world that lurks behind the tree and also likes to eat my tree, which is odd since it's artificial. We decorated the yard on Monday after I took a half day off. I didn't take a half day off on purpose...but that story begins on Sunday.

Let's see...Sunday morning we discovered that our refrigerator was no longer cold. It had power - the lights worked, but nothing else....in fact it wasn't running at all. By the time we got home from church the ice was starting to melt in the freezer and stuff was thawing out. So I had to take everything from the freezer and put it in the deep freezer (thanks for giving us that, Mom). I dried all the melted ice cubes and then we boxed up the stuff from the fridge side and put it out in the storage building. Thankfully it was cold enough Sunday and Monday that everything was fine out there, but it was a little bit strange to step out onto the backporch to get milk for our cereal. We made a phone call to 1-800-GE-CARES and set up an appointment for Monday for someone to come look at the fridge. They were supposed to be there between 1-5, so that meant that I got to work a half day and then head home to wait.

It was while I was waiting that I decided to pull the fridge out and vacuum the small animal that was forming from all the dust and pet hair back there. I vacuumed up the dust that has collected on the back of the fridge too. I decided that I was unplug the fridge and then plug it back in, just for kicks. The darn thing came on. Apparently when your fridge stops working, it's just trying to tell you to CLEAN every once in a while. So I canceled my repairman appointment (no point in paying them $75 for nothing) and decided that I had been given the gift of time...so I pulled out the outdoor Christmas decor and began working.

I had to stop in the middle of my light adventure to make a Hobby Lobby run. I needed 3 more boxes of net lights, some more extension cords, and another timer. I knew Hobby Lobby had lights on sale this week. I also bought a bifty light tester there, which really came in handy later on in the evening. Nick had to go to an Eagle Scout ceremony that night, so he didn't even get home until shortly after 8 pm, at which time I was STILL working on the lights in the yard. He promptly went inside and changed clothes, and the darling that he is climbed up on the roof to put the lights on the house. Yes, after 9 pm. He's so great. I think he just knew that if he didn't do it, I would, and he doesn't want me on the roof.

I don't actually think we completely finished everything until a little after 11 pm. I worked on those lights for 7 hours. We put a lot out there...but we're not the Griswalds by any means. We have a corner lot so there is a lot of room for stuff...and I haven't even come close to filling it. I think I might though if I had more outdoor plugs. Maybe this next year I need to have someone add some outdoor plugs to my house....that's an idea.

I don't even have any yard art in my front yard, which is sad considering that my Mom and I sell yard art online. It's really more her business than ours, however before I had to go back to work full-time it was "our" business. I go over on weekends and paint now, but I wish I didn't have to work at a regular job this time of year so I could help her because it's such a time-consuming and really busy job. We have a website, which I maintain, and you can check it out here, but if you want to order anything keep in mind that she's currently about 120 pieces behind so it will be a couple of weeks. : )