We took down our Christmas decorations this weekend. I'm amazed at how I have the exact same thought progression each and every year. As soon as November arrives, I start getting psyched up to get everything down out of the attic and I just can't wait to have all of the decorations in place. We usually start decorating the inside of the house the weekend before Thanksgiving and continue throughout the week, finishing up the weekend of Thanksgiving putting up the outdoor lights.

Every year when I get finished, I think to myself, "I love this so much. I'm never going to want to take them down." And I think that all the way up through Christmas.

Once Christmas is over, for whatever weird reason, I can't wait to get them down. I never take them down until after New Year's, but once January 1 gets here, it's a literal obsession to get everything away and back up in the attic. I really can't figure this out.

As I was coming home tonight, I noticed that virtually everyone in the neighborhood that was holding out until this weekend to take down their lights has done so. But there's this one house down the street that still has them up. I can understand that. Perhaps they've been out of town or had to work on the weekends or whatever. I realize ladders are involved and it's kind of a big deal to take them down. But do you have to turn them on? It just looks really weird. Move on already. Christmas was two weeks ago.

And then I think, why do I care if somebody still has their lights on? If they still want their house decked out until Martin Luther King's birthday, what business is it of mine? What does this really have to do with Christmas anyway? Could I possibly ramble any more in this post?

Tonight I discovered that Starbucks has a coffee and cream liqueur and that Macaroni Grille has a delightful little drink where they mix it with amaretto. It's really quite yummy. Clearly I shouldn't have consumed the whole thing.

Happy Birthday, Debo. :)