The “bah humbugs” are about to begin, and my metamorphosis into Scrooge feels like it's coming on early this year. In an unexpected and crazy whirlwind of activity our home is beginning to take on the shape of a festive and lively abode for the good cheer of the season. Since we are hosting Christmas for both sides of the family this year we are feeling like we should make sure our home is cheery, festive, and painted.

The wall we took out is still not finished, though we are in the final stages. Before today we had the texturing left to do, then some painting, tacking down the ledges, and adding the trim work. We got the texturing done this morning, that is to say, we got most of it done. The ceiling still needed some mud work done to make it appear like it was a natural part of the ceiling, and not a lumpy, bumpy, cracked mess of wall compound. I spent more time on our step ladder bent over backwards, with my hands above my head, trying desperately to make the mud level and look something other than unnatural; I feel for Michaelangelo, though I'm sure he got to lay on his back while he painted.

We still have the painting left to do, and the other things I mentioned, but since we were in our grubbies, and since we were thinking of having a Christmas party for/with our friends next weekend, and since Holly has been excited about Christmas we decided to go get a tree. Holly's bank picked out a tree on Friday and she was quite impressed with the tree and its price so she knew exactly where she wanted to go. There was one problem, we didn't know if was a U-cut place or not. Taking the boy-scout motto to heart we decided to prepare for a U-cut situation. This caused us to search our garage for a saw, and we did not find one (we found one when we returned). Since my parents's place was on the way to the lot we thought we would stop by and borrow a saw, this we did, only we never made it to the lot.

While we were there we thought we would look over the overgrown Christmas trees to see if there were any we might possibly like to have and could have. It was a long shot, but it paid off. We found a beautiful noble fir tree that needed to be removed anyway. Holly's good luck was rubbing off on us, then the flashbacks set in. There I was squatting in the mud, cutting down a tree, getting needles down the back of my shirt, and packing the tree out of the “back forty”; it was as if I was manning our little U-cut Christmas tree farm all over again, only this time no money changed hands, and I had just shared some tips with Holly on the drive over.

We borrowed a stand from my parents, and have been fighting with it ever since. It appears we will have to buy our own stronger and sturdier stand for the little tree. The cats were rather freaked out by the rearrangement of our parlor, and the addition of a tree in the house. Holly doused it with some cat-repellant which we hope will keep them out of the tree. As it stands they are each settled in their favorite chairs and adjusting to the changes.

Soon the Christmas music will be playing (I've actually started while writing this). Holly will make some wreaths with the branches from our tree that had to come off, and further decorating will no doubt occur. Christmas is not here yet, and I'm not quite fully Scroogified, but that too will come in time. :)