House all set for the holiday
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- November 24, 2019
- 1054
Thanksgiving is almost here, and we — our house and I — love this holiday: lots of family and friends and lots of good things to eat. Well, the house doesn’t eat, but she loves the wonderful smells wafting from her oven of a turkey roasting and pumpkin pies.
There are always things to be thankful for: good health, recovering health, family, friends and pets, and last but certainly not least is our well-dusted and well-swept house. She is all clean and shiny and ready to welcome admirers.
It has taken some doing to get her ready for this holiday. Her filters needed to be changed, her carpets and floors cleaned, furniture covers needed to be freshened, and a few unforeseen jobs popped up. Several Venetian blinds needed some dust removed, a throw pillow needed mending and a few pieces of woodwork needed the attention of a damp cloth. It has all been worth it; our house just glows. I hope all this glowing lasts until Christmas.
Once this lovely holiday is over, the preps for the Christmas holidays begin, and our house loves this time of year. She gets cleaned up, and then she gets decorated.
The decorating part involves moving boxes from the shed to the house. There are fewer boxes than in years past; we don’t go as crazy as we once did. Wreaths are put on doors and a few windows, a reindeer finds his place on the lawn, and the tree is dragged inside to be covered with lights and ornaments.
Once the presents are wrapped and put under the tree, we’re done. Our house is happy and decorated to the nines, and we are exhausted.
We have a few neighbors who do the holidays like it’s a contest. They cover their houses and their lawns with elaborate decorations, and it takes them days to finish. I must admit I admire their energy, and their results are very impressive. Our house gets a bit put out by being outdone in the decoration department, but we mollify her by telling her how tasteful her decorations are. Because she thinks very highly of herself, that explanation works.
Christmas will come and go, and all that work we did must be undone. We had an elderly friend who kept her decorations up until the end of February. She said it took that long for her to regain her strength. We understand.