Oh, Christmas Tree

Today was the "Get Ready for Thanksgiving" type of day, where we busied ourselves preparing for Turkey Day in numerous ways.

1. Mommy got the turkey. She couldn't do this last week in Disney, because:

a. Daddy didn't want to carry a turkey around with him throughout the parks.

b. There was no way to refrigerate it properly.

c. That would be silly.

Actually, Mommy got a lot more than turkey. She got much of the meal we'll be happily eating on Thursday. She was really proud of herself, saving $60 on groceries with her couponing. Yes, that's a verb: couponing. I don't care if you don't think it is. I say it's a verb, and now it is. She was couponing. Mommy is obsessed with coupons, and saves nearly that much each time she goes grocery shopping. Which works out, of course, if she's only spending ten dollars!

2. We decorated the tree. Well, almost. We got much of it decorated - the lights went on, which is a pretty big ordeal. Then came a lot of the ornaments. We finally found the Polynesian ornament from last year, although we haven't found the two ornaments we just bought last week yet! I have faith we will tomorrow when we finish decorating. Already, the tree is filled with items hanging from every bough. That just might be the first time I used that word in a sentence - outside of a singing it in Christmas carols.

3. We had a Christmas movie marathon. This was while we were putting the tree up. The movie "Merry Madagascar" is hilarious! And we watched the classic "Babes in Toyland" tonight, because of the march of the wooden soldiers that we saw in last week's parade. Madison was helping decorate initially, but got really into this movie when Ed Wynn showed up as the Toymaker. "Oh, that's thilly!"

4. This morning, Daddy mailed the stockings off to Metro Ministries. Okay, this didn't take me long. But still, I wanted to mention it because Mommy and Madison worked so hard on these. Mommy actually sewed the stockings together, and with Madison, they stuffed them with candy and toys for kids in New York who might not have much of a Christmas this year. It was really sweet, and something we try to do each year.

5. We did some online shopping. Madison is going to have a great Christmas, but so are Mommy and Daddy! Another thing we got online were tickets to "It's a Wonderful Life!" This is playing at the Cumming Playhouse, and will be the perfect Christmas date night for us. A few nights later, we're also heading back to the Living Christmas Tree at the 1st Baptist Church in town. I know this is an old question, but where's the 2nd Baptist Church?

6. We made plans to go to "Lights of Life," an alternate light show to Lake Lanier's expensive trip. "Lights of Life," which is at Life University in Marietta charges per car - are you ready for this? FIVE DOLLARS. For those of you who are math fans, that's ONE TWELFTH of the cost of Lake Lanier Islands. Still, Life University has two million lights, and they say that the $5 per car pays for expenses. Assuming that statement is true, you can cleverly deduce this: Lake Lanier Islands is a rip off.

We don't know what the "Lights of Life" display will be like, but we're still looking forward to it. No matter what, we certainly got our eyes filled with wonder when we saw "Osborne's Family Spectacle of Lights" at Hollywood Studios. And the lights at the Magic Kingdom too! So we've seen enough Christmas lights this season already - and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. Which reminds me... on with the numbering thing...

7. We went to bed REALLY early. Can you believe we're still tired from vacation? Or something! I don't know what it is, but we were pretty zonked. The flip side of it is that we'll be waking up early in the morning again. VERY BUSY day for Daddy at work tomorrow writing about another famous Christmas character. I'll leave that as a teaser...

"Go to your room and invent something to destroy yourself!"

- The Toymaker