Let the Decorating Begin…

It’s Black Friday weekend.

That means it’s officially Christmas.

 

It’s time to deck the halls with boughs of holly and all that other fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

We just have one slight decorating dilemma…

For the last few years, Doug’s niece, Teresa, a professional decorator, has decorated our house for Christmas.

And, we have absolutely loved it.

Two years ago, she visited us in Virginia and brought suitcases full of ribbons, garlands, giant snowflakes, and other holiday surprises, and made our house look like a Christmas wonderland.

We tried to help, but we quickly learned it’s best to stay out of the way when she does her decorating magic.

First, because she works super fast and doesn’t need us getting in her way.

And second, she’s a professional decorator and she knows what she’s doing.

She didn’t need us saying things like, “Wait, are you sure you want to put that 7-foot tree on that table? Or isn’t that too much ribbon?”

“Trust me you’ll love it,” she patiently replied, as she kept working at a breakneck pace.

And, she was right.

We definitely loved it.

We’ve learned it’s best to just be her quiet assistants and fetch the lights, hand her the ribbons, and dig the Santas out of the storage bin when she needs them.

Unlike me, she doesn’t stop, think and debate where to put something because she has a crystal clear vision in her head that she’s trying to bring to life.

 

 

Last year, while we were in New York City for a weekend in December, Teresa came into our new home in Utah while we were gone and secretly decorated the entire house.

When we came back, it was just like when Dorey, Brian and Susan walked into their fully decorated Christmas house at the end of my favorite Christmas movie, Miracle on 34th Street.

It was spectacular and magical.

She was our Kris Kringle.

The problem is now that we’ve been treated to such luxury by Teresa, we can’t decorate without her.

After two years of her Christmas magic, we’re spoiled.

So, we essentially begged her to do it again this year.

Just one more time.

She agreed even though she is crazy busy decorating other houses for real, professional clients.

In our excitement this year, we thought we could help her out by giving her a head start.

So we pulled out all our Christmas boxes.

Then, we just stood and stared at everything, feeling completely overwhelmed.

“Where do we begin?”

“What did Teresa do last year?” Doug asked.

We started looking through old photos to see how she did it.

“Well, it looks like she put the Dickens’ carolers on the mantle, but I don’t know how she got the garland and ribbon to look like that,” I said.

“Maybe we should call her,” Doug said.

“We can’t call her. She’s decorating a million other trees for paying customers,” I said.

“Then, maybe we should just wait for her to do it all. I’d hate to put stuff out and then have her redo it. That would really waste her time,” Doug said.

“Yeah, we are probably doing her a favor by doing nothing,” I agreed.

 

So, here we sit in our house full of boxes waiting for Teresa because suddenly we don’t trust ourselves to even put a simple caroler on the mantle.

Oh, Teresa, Teresa, Teresa, what have you done to us?

We probably have an unhealthy dependency on her now, but, the thing is, we don’t want to break ourselves of it because we like it.

It helps us get in the Christmas frame of mind.

And like Kris Kringle said in Miracle on 34th Street, “Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind.”

Teresa is like our Kris Kringle, and she helps us get into that Christmas frame of mind.

 

So, we’ve decided it’s best to just wait…

We’re doing her a favor, right?

So, from now until Tuesday, we will be like giddy children awaiting Santa’s arrival.

And on Tuesday night, we will be like Dorey, Brian and Susan — running through the house admiring every perfectly placed pillow and Dickens’ caroler, and quoting Susan, “I believe. I believe. I believe!”