1. It takes approximately four hours to put away Christmas properly, by myself. I fully enjoy unpacking Christmas with small children and husband present, but packing it back up again is a mama-only job.
2. The four hours includes manhandling the dead tree out the front door.
3. Neighbors! I hope you weren't up getting a glass of water at 1:59 am! And if you were and happened to look out your window, thank you for not calling the cops on the crazy lady manhandling a dead tree out the front door at 1:59 am!
4. LED lights are not my favorite and best.
5. The lights that are my favorite and best (the very big white bulbs) are the reason our tree dried out so fast. Note: use those lights someplace else next year. Sniff.
6. The GE flickering candle lights were a fantastic investment. I won't take those down until the twelfth day of Christmas. I will miss them terribly when they're gone.
7. It occurs to me that my method of packing up Christmas is a bit Grinch-like, down to the manhandling the Christmas tree out of the house. I hope it does not scar the girls for life to wake up each year and POOF the house is back to normal.
8. I saved a few things out to work on before Christmastime 2011. What a novel idea! Sisters, you don't get to know what I didn't pack. A whole year of taunting about what you're going to get for Christmas in 2011 awaits you!
9. Note to self: buy some special silver ornament-stringing thread at next opportunity and tuck it into the ornament box for next year to repair a few things.
10. Happy fourth day of Christmas! Did anyone bring you a calling bird?
