Broke my one-day bagging record

...I also think I broke my back. Don't ask me how I did it, but I managed to zone out all the commotion (kids screaming, people fighting over the last whatever, registers bleeping like slot machines at Foxwoods). I'm physically beat to the kerb, but emotionally, I feel pretty good.

Estimated weight of all the stuff I bagged/hauled: 5,000 pounds. More than I schlepped the day before Thanksgiving. I just jumped on here to check my messages and my friends list: there's a hot bath and a cup of vanilla chai waiting for me.

::Uses her silliest Christmas icon just because she can::

Nativity Scene

My dad and I put up the outdoor nativity scene just before supper tonight: we had a few problems with loose bulbs in some of the figures, but other than that, we set it up without a hitch. It's a little early to set it up, but we've both got work tomorrow, so we thought it was better to set it up tonight. We've even got the Magi and their camel up, too, marching along the snowbank toward the stable. They aren't lit up yet, but they'll be lit for Epiphany. Setting it up that way really puts it all into perspective.

I just have to finish putting the ornaments on the big tree downstairs and decorate the inside of the house, which I'll do tomorrow, after work... well, the tree will actually wait till later in the evening, while we're watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV. It's one of my little traditions.

I read recently that in some South American country, it might have been Venezuela, some of the nativity scenes are a little unusual: besides the traditional figures, folks add other figures like little statues of modern-day folks and even cartoon characters and action figures. I know that the Traddie types would have a aneurysm over something like that, but I thought it sounded really clever: hey, it's part of inculturation.

( G.K. Chesterton on the dark side of Christmas )