Christmas Lights

I. Love. Christmas Lights.

I don't know what it is about them. But I LOVE them. They make me feel happy and hopeful and bubbly and warm and fuzzy and they make me feel like a kid again. I LOVE LIGHTS! I still love the annual family lighting ceremony we have every year when Dad puts the lights up: "Ooooh, aaaaw, ohhhh!" (It's tradition.) And I'm sorry for those of you who have problems with things like this...but I am a pre-Thanksgiving Christmas celebrator. I say that December just isn't long enough to fully enjoy all the delightful things Christmas has to offer. Like LIGHTS. Or music. I mean really, the music from "Charlie Brown Christmas" always puts me in a blissful trance. Guess what I'm listening to right now?!

**Disclaimer - I swear I'm not the type of person who skips Thanksgiving either. I believe in celebrating Christmas without dismissing Thanksgiving. It's really the precursor to the whole holiday season. And I love it all. It's a time of year, not two distinct holidays. 

SO! As I was leaving my last class on Monday before my Thanksgiving break, you can imagine how tickled I was to discover that adding to my initial joy of starting the break, there were CHRISTMAS LIGHTS on CAMPUS. I feel creepy stopping to take pictures on campus sometimes, so this is the only picture you get. How delightful is that?!

Now let's back up a little bit. The roomies and I had a lighting ceremony of our own on Sunday. We invited some friends, cranked up the Christmas music, make some hot chocolate, and dressed up in colorful hats, gloves, and scarves, and decorated the front room with lights. I was dancing around to "Jingle Bell Rock" while someone untangled lights, someone eye-balled, and someone tacked. It was truly a fantastic little get-together. And when it was all finished, we turned out all the lights and sat back to enjoy our handiwork:

Personally, I love the juxtaposition of the Thanksgiving pumpkins that remain in the window along with the lights and ornaments hanging above. Who said the holidays can't go together?! Across the entertainment center is a garland with lights and over the couch is our gift-wrapped painting. It's a nice touch. After Thanksgiving we'll put up the Christmas tree!!!

And since I'm spending so much time talking about Christmas lights, please enjoy this song by Coldplay entitled "Christmas Lights." (Oh, the irony.) I'm not sure why I love it...it's catchy. But upon listening more closely to the lyrics, it's a little depressing...and the members of Coldplay are sort of creepy. But it fits with the theme. So there.