The Day After The Day After Thanksgiving

So, I’m a die-hard no-Christmas-til-the-day-after-Thanksgiving kind of girl.  We don’t get out the decorations or the stockings or go see Santa until after the turkey has cleared the table (or the deep-fat fryer, as was the case this year–whoo, boy, was that YUM!).  But once the turkey is gone, it’s all fair game.

Last year, in September, our home flooded.  I won’t bore you with the link here, since I’ve written about this ridiculous flood over and over again–it’s become my dead horse to beat, the flood has.  Twenty-seven inches of water in our home, scary, scary rushing water.  The point I’m making, before I forget it, is that last year at Christmas I was having a hard time really getting in the spirit.  We were still digging out from the wreckage and moving back into our house, we had just found out we were expecting another baby (surprise!), and I was exhausted.

THIS year, despite (or maybe because of?) how hard my husband and I have both been working all year, I am dedicated to having some serious holiday merriment.  I am feeling the spirit, y’all.  I am READY.  So on Saturday, we headed out to see the Big Man himself: Santa.  We went with one of the lesser-known Santas, since here in Atlanta, the Jolly Dude starts taking appointments in September for visits starting November 1, and he’s all booked up within 48 hours (this is not a joke–people here are cray-zay ’bout their Santa visits).  Did I mention that those visits do NOT include a photo?  That costs EXTRA.  This is what I’m saying.

Fortunately, we have a much quieter Santa in a location that I will, I’m sure you’ll understand, leave undisclosed.  He’s awesome, and the kids were only mildly afraid of him.  Our oldest wasn’t super worried about putting in her bid for a particular gift this year–she’s adding things to my Amazon cart, instead.  The youngest, God bless her, has no interest for anything beyond milk and a clean diaper. These two, though?  Have Ideas.  My favorite part, after the wrangling and the wrestling and the tears, was the whispering: “Santa?  Doll house.”  So sweet.  Mister Man said, “TRAIN!”  Awesome.

Now, must, must, must go get that Advent calendar done–December 1 will be here any minute!