Packing Up Christmas

          Okay, folks, I know you love Christmas.  I love Christmas.  But you've got to take down the tree and put away the decorations.  Many of you have already done this, but for those who are still reluctant to put away that last string of lights and that last reindeer yard ornament, I have a way for you to know if you have taken Christmas just a notch too far this year. Here's how to know when it's time to downsize your holiday-a-holic problem:

1-     You worried that you wouldn’t find enough goodies for the parakeet and hamster stockings.

2-     You dressed all your pets in little Santa suits.

3-     You have dedicated your entire garage to the storage of Christmas decorations and now there is no room for a car.

4-     You agonized when the postage stamps didn’t match your Christmas cards.

5-     You tried to make homemade candy canes.

6-     It took you a solid week to put up all the lights on your house.

7-     You made a doll-house sized gingerbread house, completely filled with gingerbread people, furniture and appliances.

8-     You crocheted covers for your Christmas lights.

9-     You made your Christmas feast fit each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, including partridge soup and golden onion rings.

10-   You painted all your trees and bushes white, so it would look like it just snowed.

11-  You couldn’t find a place for the elf and reindeer figurines, so you put them in the manger.

12-  You climbed up on the roof to jingle some sleigh bells, fell off, and broke your arm (and then you had a Christmas-themed cast put on).

13- You are troubled that this list cannot be sung to any popular Christmas tunes.

Although it's perfectly fine to start Christmas shopping for 2018 right now-- may I suggest a wonderful selection of my books?