Deck the halls and everything else!

Tis the season for decorating.  Retailers start decorating for Christmas earlier and earlier. I noticed the card shops putting out ornaments and cards in July. There is even the Christmas in July sale! As soon as the Halloween candy went on sale, Christmas candy was put out. Looking for Thanksgiving decorations? Forget it! Those decorations were on the bottom shelf or made by your local Kindergartener. Every year decorating is taken to new heights. The weekend after Thanksgiving marks D-Day. That is decorating day. After all that shopping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are spent decking the halls, the tree, the outside of the house, the yard, the car and don't forget the dog. It's hard to hang a pair of antlers on a cat. They have more dignity than that. But a dog can really be dressed up. You can put on antlers, a matching sweater, little doggie booties, matching collar and leash. They can be dressed up to match your kids! This makes a great family Christmas picture. People expect dogs to be treated like people, so we might as well dress them like one. I'm seeing more yard blow ups this year. 8 foot tall Santas standing in the yard at night. During the day it's nothing but a pile of plastic on the front yard. In the spring you can have an outline of Santa laying in the yard where the grass has died. HO HO HO! There is always one house who pays professionals to put up their decorations. They have the entire house outlined in lights. Not to mention the shrubs, porch and trees. This makes the other neighbors jealous. So they put up lighted plastic characters to make a scene in the yard, with elves working in the workshop, waving snowmen and Santas, lighted deer that move back and forth, then it is all set to music! What we have here is a display that gets attention. You have increased traffic to look at your display. You may even be on the news! If your display is large and loud enough, you get to meet your local police person. Maybe even the local utility company when you black out the neighborhood. That should get you on the news! All your neighbors will know who you are! That's attention! What is the most complained about thing in decorating? Lights! Everyone complains about putting up the lights. Funny huh? Take Care!