Everything seemed to be going pretty well today before The Hub whacked off the head of the snowman deocaration we had in the yard. He came into the house carrying it under his arm and looking mightily burnt up.

"For goodness sake, what did you do? Join the jihad?" I asked, bewildered.

"I was trying to reposition this thing and pound it into the ground and now its head fell off! I'll have to glue it back together." and he stomped on down to his basement lair to repair it.

I am NOT one of those wives who creates endless amount of work for her husband at the holidays. Far from it. He's the guy who usually wants to decorate - I could do without it. But, with the house on the market, we feel we have to make a good show....

For some reason, people associate ever changing seasonal decorations with a well maintained house. I guess it signals, "we care about where we live". However most years it's been "I care that we don't have good / any health insurance and am not going to ask my husband to climb a ladder to rig up a bunch of lights, curse, and scare the neighbors."

But, this year he put up "swag lights" which are pretty and especially look nice on our little cottage type house. He brought out the snowman decoration from the basement, and even his old sled. I'm going to get some evergreens and a bow to stick on it.

Of course, it doesn't look real festive out there right now with the headless snowman on the lawn.

We may get some real snow to complete the picture. ( remember my all black wooley worm?) Maybe six inches - and everybody is hoping to be off from work tomorrow. I can't imagine what these people would do in Massachusetts - or, really, anyplace else in the country. I mean, out in California, people calmly pick up their china after an earthquake, in the mid-west they pick up Toto and head for the storm shelter several times a summer. Along the Gulf coast all but the most monsterous hurricaines barely move people out of their lawn chairs. Here, in Maryland, we get six inches of snow and such a panic occurs that every year I think somebody should call out the National Guard. Except, of course, they're all dodging bullets in Iraq. Bet when they get home they won't panic about the snow either.

I am kind of speaking with a forked tounge, though. In Massachusetts, it was quite safe to drive in the snow because the roads were sanded, so it was easy to get good traction. You just had to use good common sense. Here, I've never seen sand on the roads, and it takes longer for the main roads to get plowed then it took the City of Gardner to do the entire town, including every little residential street and alley. I don't especially want to go home, stalked by wild deer on dark, windy, unplowed, unsalted roads clear back to the County. But I don't think the snow will start in earnest until I get home at midnight. I'm not too worried.

And, if they call off work tomorrow, it'll be great for me! I won't have to come in at all!

The Hub and I are adjusting to my/our second shift kind of life. It helps that his hours at the Depot are similar to mine, but we find ourselves doing things at wierd times, like raking the yard at 12:30 a.m. This morning, we trimmed the Christmas tree, which came out looking the way our Christmas trees always look - a little shabby. But this one looks shabby in a deeper richer color, more burgandy this year. I got up off my wallet and bought some new garland and some wooden cranberries that The Hub was fond of, as well as a box of glass balls in the same color. I hung up our Christmas stockings, and the dogs. I even decorated the fish tank!

Naturally, my treasured Gentle Hearts nativity set is in the middle of the table. It took me YEARS to find a nativity set that I was satisfied with. For a long time, I didn't have one. They were either too cutsey or too "dramatic" for me. This one is in pastel colors and is a depiction of little children putting on a Christmas play, so it's innocent without being too sacherine. Every once in awhile, I see another set that I kind of like, and I think I should get it while I see it, because I know that one day the donkey is going to get lost, Joseph is going to roll off the table and break and all three wise men could be knocked out in one swipe of you-know-who's powerful tail.

But, for the time being, they're all in good shape. Everybody has their head on straight, which is more than you can say for the snowman.....or us!