BAH HUMBUG!!!!!

I have loads of cute Thanksgiving pictures to peruse through and figure out how to blog. We had a great time at BOTH meals that we went to, and I was stuffed as a turkey...and still kept finding ways to cram more food in! Just had to vent tonight on my Christmas light crisis. So everyone knows that I LOVE Christmas,and can't wait to get started decorating, playing music, shopping for just the right gifts, etc. (My classroom is already fully decorated, including a tree and lights under the blackboard, as of Wednesday before I left, and I have been playing Christmas music in the van since the beginning of November.) While Holden napped today, I spent close to THREE HOURS rearranging the living room to accomodate the tree, putting up the tree, and stringing millions of white lights all over it. I did not mind because I love decorating. Even though I could have caught up on Grey's Anatomy, ER, Lipstick Jungle, and all of the other shows I am behind on. Or taken my own nap. The tree looked awesome when I was done, and Holden's face when I brought him downstairs was priceless. He was SO excited! My goal was to put the ornaments on with him tonight. WELL......after a little excursion to Toys R' Us (during which time we bought all of Holden's gifts right in front of him while he played in the aisles; love this age!) we come home and ONLY THE BOTTOM ROW of lights is working. Two cats are sitting under the tree staring at me with wide-eyed innocence. I will never know if they played a role in it or not. It took (a laughing) Jay (I didn't see the humor) and me 20 minutes to get them off. (I wrap well, people!) Then it took me another 30 minutes, complaining all the way, to get two thirds of the tree lit with backup lights I had in the basement. At that point, THE BACKUP LIGHTS WENT OUT. Jay is rolling on the couch laughing. Holden is yelling, "Yites! Yites!" And I yank them off the tree and storm out of the room. I realize this is a funny story. If you are not the one who wasted the WHOLE DAY on lights! So it's off to Walmart tomorrow to buy new ones. Next year we are getting a pre-lit tree. Mark my words.