One Light Goes Out, They All Go Out!

It's November 22nd and I have finished nearly all my Christmas shopping.  My gifts are wrapped and under the tree I've already put up and I've listened to my fair share of Christmas music. Andrew Ripp's new Christmas EP 'Light of Mine' came out today and I highly recommend it.   Call me crazy but there is reasoning behind all my madness.  I won't be home for Thanksgiving and Huff & Puff and I received conformation this week we were more than likely going to be here in New York through Christmas. I'm so glad we have work, as I am continuing to learn everyday, but skipping Christmas in Tennessee makes my heart sad.

Next week after Thanksgiving Huff & Puff is heading home to Tennessee for a short couple days to get his tags renewed on his truck. I'll not be joining him for the 18 hour smoke filled gallop to Tennessee on Trigga.  When I found this out I was determined to finish my Christmas shopping and turn Huff&Puff and Trigga into Santa Puff and his truck into Trigga' the one mirrored Reindeer. I didn't want to mail all my gifts from NY.  One-that's just no fun.  Two-who doesn't like a pretty present to open?  Three-It is tradition for me to have endless nights of wrapping my gifts and making them perfect like only a true Virgo does while watching my collection of nearly every classic Christmas movie there is.  I am only lacking a few.  Well obviously I didn't bring my collection of Christmas movies with me to NY and ABC Family's '25 Days of Christmas' hasn't started yet,  so it left me no choice but to go buy a new classic Christmas movie to add to the collection back at home.   I bought Christmas Vacation. I don't know how this movie hasn't made it into my collection yet.  My dad loves this movie.  I miss my dad. 

After I finished wrapping my presents I couldn't bare to see them just sitting there not under a tree. I miss my white Christmas tree with pink lights and all things glittery. She was a beauty last year.  So today I had to have a tree.  A real one with the vintage bulbs.  That's what I saw in my head to go along with this old vintage house we're living in.  Well I ended up having to get a fake one, but I did get the vintage bulbs. They were on sale at Wal-Mart. #Rollback I hate that place. 

After a long day working in the gloomy cold weather, Santa Puff and I put on some Dave Barnes & Andrew Ripp Christmas tunes and began putting up the tree. As we were putting on the lights, the song 'Mary & Joseph' by Dave Barnes came on in my opinion one of the best Christmas songs ever written and in that moment that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling started welling up inside me.  I looked over where Jon and Jose would sit in the living room thinking about how I wish they were still here with us.   I'd probably be making fun of Jose and singing Feliz Navidad just to get my jollies for the night and praying to God that Jon would at least get the english lyrics right in the song.  All the past Christmas memories started rushing back to me like a flood...putting up the tree with my dad as a little girl, fighting with Tara over who was going to put the star on top, the Christmas after my mom and dad's divorce and sitting in lawnchairs with my dad in the living room - mom got the furniture, making sugar cookies with my nana for Santa to eat on Christmas Eve. I miss my nana. All these flashes of Christmases past overwhelmed me with emotion and I started to cry a little. Yes, I can be a crybaby from time to time. Then I looked up at 'Huff & Puff' and realized he had that same gazed look on his face as if he had just seen his own ghosts of Christmas past.  I then realized it could be worse and I could be completely by myself.  I was thankful for 'Huff & Puff' in that moment and was glad he was there to be a part of putting up the tree with me.  One of my favorite things to do at Christmas. #theseareafewofmyfavoritethings <--- #Icouldnthelpmyself 

Once we got the tree up and lights on, I could hardly wait to plug the lights in and see the warm Christmas lights all aglow! I plugged them in and Viola! They came on - for all of five seconds - and then they went out.  What. The. H?....is wrong with this house and it's raggedy electrical system. First the breaker flips nearly every time I dry my hair, then not one but two juicers fried, and now it wants to mess with one homesick girl's Christmas tree?!  I felt just like Clark Griswold when he went to plug in his lights to the outside of his house and it didn't work. He snapped and began kicking the plastic reindeer in his front yard.  I swear I would have done the same thing if there were plastic reindeer in my livingroom at that moment.  To be honest, I'm surprised there's not a set laying around in this nik nak filled house.   I blew a fuse in the bottom set of bulbs.  I didn't let it kill my Christmas spirit though, I went out in the nasty rain and bought several fuses for backup you never know in this house came back and changed the ones in the bottom set of bulbs. God said, "Let there be light!"



I have to say the 1960's t.v. really adds to the picture.





To my sisters: Stop trying to read the name tags in the pic to see which ones are yours. 
To my friend Julia: Your's is the pink wrapping paper with white snowflakes and a green Christmas tree! hehe.

In the first couple of weeks I arrived in NY.  I went to the city and found this ornament and thought, "Oh that will be the perfect addition to my tree when I get back home for Christmas.  Little did I know it would be an addition to my tree in NY and the only 'addition' at that.   I miss my Dave Barnes ornament.  Yes, I realize I have mentioned Dave Barnes 3 maybe 4 times in this blog.  I can't help it.  We're sort of  'in love' & 'together' he just doesn't know it.

And...one last thing.... I have sat infront of this beautiful lit up tree the whole night listening to Christmas music writing this blog and just as I am finishing up.....Lo and Behold what happens....

  


 Please take note that the bottom set is now the only set working. Seriously?
"One light goes out, They all go out!" #12PainsOfChristmas

  Unbelievable.