To record or not to record?

Two posts today. I have a lot on my mind.

Christmas has past and we had a lot of fun. Opened presents, ate good food, and shared our home and others' homes for great times of fellowship. Through it all, I captured about 45 seconds of video and maybe three photos for posterity.

My question is this: when do you break out the cameras? I feel like I am missing the action if I spend all my time trying to "remember" it. On the other hand, I will never get to see Savvy opening her presents while she was two years old. What do you think?

Tis the season to get on with it.

I LOVE Christmas. But there are limits.

Look, Christmas is my very favorite holiday. I really like how the entire Christian world takes time to celebrate the birth of Jesus together in our own ways. The secular world even joins in for the presents, but I digress.

One of the reasons the Christmas season is so special is that it is kept to within a month of so of December 25. Unless, of course, you are in retail. Then it starts somewhere around the summer equinox.

The official Christmas season for the Tindall household is from the day after Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas. After that, our lights go out. I took yesterday afternoon to take it all down. I find it amazing how the decorations seem to go up slowly, but the take-down can happen in an hour or so. I also think that the house breathes a sigh of relief after all the extra stuff vacates to storage and that large evergreen in the living room moves to the curb (or attic if you prefer).

I'm all for celebrating the Reason for the Season, but the decorations lose their luster on December 26. And, to all those who leave their lights up until spring, I ask, "You put it up in the cold, can't you take it down in the cold?"

The Christmas cold

Ah, the winter cold. No, not outside, in my head.

Here it is, Christmas week, the day of the Christmas uni-service at our church (instead of having two services), and I am wrapped in a blanket, on my couch, with a whopping head cold. So, here is my ode:

The Twelve Days of Christmas...with a head cold.

On da first day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...a fever of 103 (ok, not really, but it rhymes, so lay off, I'm sick)
On da second day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...two Alka Seltzer...and a fever of 103.
On da third day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...three ibuprofen ... two Alka Seltzer ... that's enough of that.
On da fourth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
four boxes of Kleenex
On da fifth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
five bowls of soup
On da sixth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
six sneezes looming
On da seventh day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
seven coughing spells
On da eighth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
eight gallons of O.J.
On da ninth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
nine cups of tea
On da tenth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
ten trips to potty
On da eleventh day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
eleven pounds of mucus
On da twelfth day of Chrithmath my head cold gave to me...
twelve hours of sleep

Alternate beginning lyrics:
One da first day of Chrithmath, my head cold gave to me...
a need for some vitamin C.
a desire for some TLC.
time to rest and watch TV.
comfort food..Chef Boy-ar-dee.
time to critique the Chrithmath tree.