Want to know how hectic things around here have been and exactly how scatterbrained I’ve been lately? I finally got our Christmas tree up tonight. I do believe this is the longest I have ever waited to put up a tree. Funny thing is that I haven’t really missed it up until now. Some of that could have to do with the fact that my daughter is gone right now, hence not being harassed by her because it hasn’t been up yet. Then there’s my son, who just seems indifferent to the holiday season all together. This is odd for a ten year old but who am I to judge? And we don’t need to go into another rant about how society has turned Christmas into a consumption orgy, right? So, the 2007 Christmas tree is up in all of it’s 4.5 foot glory. Behold!

While grabbing the tree and all the decorations out of storage, I was amazed at how much Christmas related stuff I have accumulated over the years. Most of it I have gotten as, surprise, Christmas gifts. There really are very few items that I have a soft spot for. There’s the Christmas scene picture frame that holds one of the last photos taken of my grandfather — Christmas of 1992. There’s the angel that sits on top of my tree every year that I really love. I have a few ornaments that the kids made in grade school that I could never part with. Other than those few items, though, I really have no use for all the decorative items that are taking up space in my storage building.

Remember all of that talk about stuff removal and daily productivity?

I just listed the following box of items on Freecycle. There are some pretty cool Santa dolls in there, a ceramic musical snowman that plays Frosty the Snowman (of course), some teddy bear figurines dressed all Christmas-y, several boxes of icicle lights that have never been opened, a few strands of snowflake garland, and some other odd-n-end type decorations. I think they will make someone out there very happy.

An aside: It’s been 23 minutes and I already have a taker who is willing to pick them up tomorrow. You have to love Freecycle.

I guess it’s time to say goodbye to Santa and Frosty. It was nice knowing them, but the time has come for us to part ways and move on to better things. They brought me great joy (I suppose) and entertainment (for the kids, anyway) while they were here. It’s my hope that they continue bringing joy and entertainment in the years to come for someone else.

It feels good to lighten the load, even if it’s just by one box. That one box was the one step that I needed to take today. That’s one step closer than I was yesterday. Yes, it feels good.