Tenant funny

[Kay/NC]

Well, I think I know how Clark Griswold's neighbors felt now. The neighbors next door at Jenna's house are really decking the yard for Christmas.

The girl that rents the house with her husband has told me she shops the local Family Dollar two or three times a day. I am beginning to believe she picks up a new outdoor decoration at least three times a week.

It started with inflatables...Rudolph and Frosty. One day last week, a Grinch so gigantic that its red cap touches the eaves of the roof popped up, too. I think there's a row of candy cane yard stakes, and can only imagine the indoors.

The lights started appearing, and you can only appreciate that display after dark. I think a big flag was hanging from the roof over the front stoop when we pulled out Friday to head back to Carolina. Heaven only knows what holes are in the siding and trim now.

It has become an entertainment for us, to see who can find the new decoration first when we drive up. There is nothing subtle about it. Our three little lighted evergreen trees and holiday mat and flag simply cannot compete.

We are obviously the Scrooges in our neighborhood. How about you...Scrooge, Griswolds, or in - between?

[Suey73]

Well, I tried to upload the  Christmas Piggies  but the file is too large.  I'll try to get them up on Facebook in a few days.   I'm much less than last year since we don't expect anyone to visit this Christmas season.     So,  I'm less than a Griswold,  but no scrooge.   Kay,  even though it seems excessive to you... does it make you smile at all?    You have to admire people's Christmas Spirit some time.    May their light shine.    Even though it is at the end of lane or dead end road where hardly anyone can admire them. 

[Kay/NC]

Oh, I do admire their spirit.  It is fun to see what she's done each time we roll up. 

We laugh and joke about who or what will turn up next, and that has value for us.  The house when we lived there was Mike's old unmarried aunts' and uncle's home, and they never did anything that remotely hinted at "jolly".  His Mom had no tree most of the time I knew her habits there, either. 

Maybe my take on things like this is that I never do them for anyone else to see, but for us to enjoy.  This year,we are actually putting up long strings of colored mini lights in the inside eaves of the screened porch.  I have never done anything like that here, so it is a departure. 

We did that for Winn, of course.  He helped PaPa the other day with the first one, and Mike finished the second one today.  On Thursday, when SIL came over, Winn had to take him out there to se his "LIGHTS!"  He is so enchanted with them. 

Has me thinking about stringing a few more strands here and there.We were never Griswolds, but the kids always had their choice of colored or white window candles, colored or white tree lights, etc.  We had to give up on outdoor lights in Va, due to the dumb dog who continually tried to eat them...we didn't want to electrocute him. 

Thanks for reminding me of the good in this sort of thing. I hope it didn't come off  as making fun of them...not my intent.  If you can imagine it being so different...and continuing to spread...that's what I was commenting about. 

[Husker-J]

We probably give the appearance of a Scrooge, because all we do is add a keepsake ornament for everyone, one a year, and only buy lights to replace ones that burnt out or have frayed insulation, etc.

However, we have a 'budget' and whatever we don't spend on ourselves, we give to a charity.   Last year it was the Disabled American Veterans, this year I am thinking the Wounded Warriors project (as I hear a greater % of donations go to helping the injured/disabled veterans, and less for administration/overhead).

[mike se il]

I've been accused of putting up Amish Christmas lights:

I actually DO have Christmas lights up! I put them up last year and never took them down. They are LED tube lights. They came with little plastic clips you mount to the wall and snap the tube into it. It is up under the edge of the roof and really not noticable unless you look closely for it.

[Kay/NC]

To be sure about the donations, there are websites you can Google to see percentages that go to the intended cause. That is a wonderful tradition.

I used to make a different crafted ornament for each child each year, and dated them. Before the kids, I did sets those two years, and all of them are still with us, too. They are sort of a history of the skills I attempted to learn in the seventies/ early eighties. i still use the ones they made in Sunday school, and they made Christmas things in school back then, too.

I guess I am more than a little jaded about Christmas. I see it as so overcemmercialized, I forget how exciting it is when you have young kids in the house. Daughter says Winn spent all day yesterday, decorating and then rearranging ornaments on their tree, wrappng and moving the presents around underneath it. Gave me flashbacks this morning.

I am actually looking forward to seeing what's up next door this week!

[Kay/NC]

Good one, Mike, i actually sat here a minute and waited for the photo to buffer, before I got it....DUH!

[Husker-J]

We have a guy who puts reflective tape on windmill blades, and then carefully aims lights, so that they only hit the reflectors, and nothing else.   You don't know how many people will sit in wonder, trying to figure out how he got the lights to go round and round.

[Kay/NC]

Cool!

We realized today, when our ornament box weighed a half-ton for only two small ( shoebox sized, at most) cartons of ornaments...that we have probably 2,000 mini white lights in storage. These have accumulated from past years, prior to buying pre-lit trees.

I am seriously thinking of how and where we could string at least some of these up. Winn adores his colored sets inside the porch. I am tempted to put some up at the old country store at the crossroads, at least. It is going to have to warm up and dry off a bit to draw me outdoors much.

[merryyon]

Scrooge here....not too much traffic