Nirvana, lit up for Christmas ... for a little while!
The past few weeks have been crazy, and now I find that Christmas is only 3 days away ... wow! Luckily, I had gotten most of our Christmas shopping out of the way at the beginning of the month (love that internet shopping), as well as the Christmas decorations.
Being frugal, Ken and I have never gone crazy with the credit card during the holidays. In fact, we don't use the credit card unless we can pay it off immediately. (We do like racking up those travel miles, and we should have enough to finally take a vacation soon). So, other than a couple of small gifts to buy .. we're done.
With most of the shopping complete and the decorations up, I should be free of the stress caused by the holidays, right? Wrong ... cause I put up Christmas lights! I swear, every year I bring the Christmas lights down from the attic with excitement ... ready to light up something. I used to go all out and decorate the front steps, the porch, the patio, the front door ... but, it never fails. I plug in the lights, make sure they're working, then break my back putting up the lights. That night, I'm plugging in the lights and I'm lovin' Christmas! Less than seven days later ... some of the lights don't work. Every year! The beautiful pre-lit Christmas tree that Ken surprised me with a few years ago ... we had to buy our own lights after the first year cause the ones on the tree no longer worked. What is it with Christmas lights?! Come on, man ... aren't you charging enough to make the damn things last at least one season?!
Needless to say, I haven't put up any Christmas lights the past few years. In fact, I delegated the chore of putting the lights on the tree to Ken many years ago. I would have thrown the tree through the window! However, with Nirvana sitting out back I figured that I'd decorate her for the holidays. After all, she's been neglected lately and it would be really nice to look out back and see her all lit up through the back windows.
So, a few weeks ago I dragged the lights down from the attic and before doing anything else .. I plugged in the lights and made sure they were working. I was pleased to see that all was well .. no problem! So, after spending at least 30 minutes untangling the mess, I spent way too long running lights around Nirvana. With my back killing me (and no more lights) I wasn't about to tackle putting lights on the mast or rigging, but I was pleased with the results. That night I plugged in the lights and was lovin' Christmas! We could see Nirvana through the windows and her lights reflected on the water. All was good ... till about a week later! Should have known! As luck would have it, the night that Ken and I were having a few friends over for an early Christmas gathering ... a large section of the lights weren't working. As it was getting dark and we were expecting our friends to arrive at any minute, I plugged in the lights. Damn it! So, I decided to keep them plugged in anyway, with a large black "hole" on Nirvana's side. Instead of stressing about it, I poured a glass of wine!
Since that night, I haven't plugged in the lights once ... until last night. Now, none of the lights work! That's it! As much as I love Christmas lights, especially on sailboats, I'm done! I'm just gonna have to enjoy everybody else's lights and be thankful that other people are more patient than I am. So, poor Nirvana is dark again and we're the only house in about a group of 8 that isn't decorated for Christmas ... can you blame me?! I think I need another glass of wine!
I wonder how long these lights will last at our neighborhood's entrance?
I do love these ornaments that our daughter gave us in 2009, one month after we bought Nirvana!
At least we know how to keep a fire going! We will miss this when cruising.
Anyway ... Ken and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Here's a pic from our first Christmas in 1983! The things Ken would do for me back then .. lol!
Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!
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7 comments:
At least Nirvana looks snazzy all lit up. :D
I'm glad you got the picture before the lights went out. That's not happened to us, so I guess we've been lucky. I don't let hubby on the roof to do the lights anymore. When you are in your 60s it's time to quit that kind of thing.
Have a terrific day and a very merry Christmas. :)
Okay, I just can't contain the question... I have to ask... Who misspelled "greeting" on the ornament? ;)
Merry Christmas to you both! Nirvana looks nice with all of her lights:)
Dani
Your lights look fantastic! I would have loved to put up lights but they would have been in the way when we wanted to go out (one of us would surely trip over them!). I do miss my fireplace but I love what we're doing now.
BTW, I believe someone doesn't know your last name (unless they're joking ; ) ).
I love Christmas lights and she looks beautiful! When you're cruising you'll be able to sit outside under the stars...won't need Christmas lights then. :0)
Yes, I'll be happy to give up the fireplace and the Christmas lights for the stars! And yes, our last name is "Geeting" ... lots of fun with that during the holidays!
Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas too!
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