Robbed

We've been wanting to decorate the house in a particular way for the last few years. Thanks to an after-Christmas sale last year and a neighborhood contest this year, I finally went for it. I'm still trying to get the official results because we were out of town when the judging took place, but suffice to say we didn't win. I entered us in the "traditional" category, but the voting revealed that our house wasn't traditional enough. Never mind that the winner had colored lights spattered all over their yard, but I'm not complaining (at least I think I'm not complaining). Truth be told, there were other homes that were more "traditional" than ours. They used wreaths, garland, red bows and spotlights which all seem to fit the category more appropriately. Our overall look would probably be better labeled "classic" because I know they didn't have strings of lights available when the homes in our neighborhood were built.

Even though we lost and the $150 worth of prizes went to someone else, I'm still really glad that we decorated outside as much as we did. Exterior illumination really adds to the festive spirit, don't you think? It's been fun having the lights on at night and all the wreaths visible by day. We didn't spend much money (I haven't actually received an electric bill yet) and I enjoyed (mostly) being outside with our new mp3 player and working away.

Next year I think I'll enlist Gus to help. He is light enough that he can probably shimmy up that peak of the house that I wasn't able to string lights on. It's so steep that I kept sliding down. Maybe he'll have better luck.