Advent ended and Christmas began for me during Midnight Mass. Each year during the four weeks of Advent I remind myself that Advent is preparation and Christmas is a season. So . . .

I finally finished decorating my house on December 24th.

We tend to decorate with a bit of whimsy and I count on my youngest to come home from college and surprise me with his latest contribution.

Last year he topped our tree with an angel –

“Angel, the vampire cursed with a soul who moves to LA and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption.” Other than the vampire thing, there’s a hint of Christmas, isn’t there? Christmas is about redemption.

This year he went a bit more colorful with magician-extraordinaire,

Criss Angel, and a burst of flickering lights. You may recognize Criss from his Orville Reddenbacker Popcorn commercial. Had Nicholas found the new color ink cartridge, it would have been much more colorful. Christmas is magical.

We also like a lot of lights – indoors. They add a festive touch on the 24th and 25th, but remind me of the softness of snow and the brilliance of stars of an Ohio winter.

So as Christmas arrives and winter officially settles in, I’ll enjoy the whimsy, my lights and the quiet of the season.

Decorations will start coming down after Epiphany – January 8th – so by the time Ash Wednesday heralds Lent the house will be stripped of its winter cheer. But for now, Christmas is alive and well in our home . . . which is good since I still have Christmas cards to write  😉

Merry Christmas!