we need a little christmas

Have you heard this holiday song?

Haul out the holly,
Put up the tree before
My spirit falls again
Fill up the stocking,
I may be rushing things,
But deck the halls again now.

For we need a little Christmas,
Right this very minute,
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet,
Yes, we need a little Christmas,
Right this very minute,
It hasn't snowed a single flurry,
But Santa, dear, we're in a hurry.

Climb down the chimney,
Turn on the brightest string
Of lights I've ever seen,
Slice up the fruitcake,
It's time we hung some tinsel
On that evergreen bough.

For we need a little music,
Need a little laughter,
Need a little singing,
Ringing through the rafter,
And a little snappy
Happy ever after,
Yes we need a little Christmas now!

When I was little I remember my mom playing these Christmas records. . . and occasionally they would skip and skip and skip. This song was and still is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I associate this one with my mom decorating our house, so I've been humming it all week. I loved all our special decorations, especially these hanging gold ball things with tinsel coming out of the top of them. She used to hang those in the doorways in our living room. I also vividly remember these small caroler and tree candles she would set out on my dresser with white glittery batting for snow. And the santa face mobile she would hang from my ceiling light. That mobile sort of freaked me out though, like my sister's santa doll. I remember calling mom into my room one night convinced the mobile was going to "get me." She turned on the light, which of course made it less scary. Then she turned the light off and I pulled the covers over my head. Apparently santa frightened me a lot as a kid.

I'm almost finished decorating. Brought in the last of my trimmings from my garage storage unit tonight. This is a chore. All my holiday stuff is outside in our garage, in a wall storage cage. I can't reach into the cage without climbing on a ladder, of which I really need a new one. (Christmas present from dad maybe?) And the tubs are really dirty so I clean them off first, then sort through and haul most of the things I want upstairs in my handy blue Ikea bag. The tree and ornament bin are their own trip. Then another trip to bring back the empty bins. Each year I think maybe next year I won't put up the tree, and just put up my tree village. I would miss my ornaments though. They're what I enjoy most about the big tree. And I'd probably miss the process of decorating my home. I do think I'll keep the decorations up longer this year though, maybe until MLK Jr. weekend.