"Elroy the Elf"





So we had a delivery from the North Pole today. It was "The Elf on the Shelf". The kids were exstatic that an "Elf" from the North Pole actually came to our home. They had to give him a name and they chose the name Elroy. (a total elf name) He leaves every night and reports to old Saint Nick, but returns before the kids awake. The kids get up and search for him in the morning. He can't be touched or he'll lose his magic and he can't talk but he does listen. The kids were so cute about it and it's a great tradition to have every year. These are the things that make the spirit of Christmas come alive.

"Hum Bugs" Suck!!!

So for those of you who don't know I love, love, love Christmas. I love the trees, the smells, even the snow(in December), the gift giving, the food, the cozy fire, hot coco, wrapping paper, the parties, the lights....oh wait the lights! I don't have my lights this year.
And that's why I'm warning all, "Hum Bugs" suck.
I have a little story to vent about that nearly ruined the happy spirit of Christmas for me.
So it all started about 8 years ago when we bought our first house. I knew when I had my own home I (meaning Jason) would put up my all time favorite lights on our house, Clear C9 lights. Well after a lot of exploring I realize they are hard to come by, they are the first ones gone off the shelf. Year after year I searched as soon as all the Christmas stuff was put out. Well it wasn't until last year in our second home I finally succeeded. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Jason spent days putting them up just right to make me happy. I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. The house was decked out and I had waited years for it to look like that.
Well here's where the story turns. We sold our second house earlier this year and because of the snow we couldn't get the lights down, there was still plenty of ice and snow on the roof. So I asked the new owners ( who I politely let move in a week early) if we could get them sometime later because I had just purchased them and they were hard to find. She nicely said " sure that's fine, it's much too dangerous to get up there now." She even said she may just have her son take them down when the snow melts. We moved to our new house and carried on.
Well as life got busy and school started for the kids I didn't think too much about it. Come the beginning of November I start looking through my Christmas stuff getting all excited and realize, I don't have lights. So I don't have a phone # for them but I know the address (being that it was our house) So I sent a polite letter telling her I realized after looking at my Christmas decor I still hadn't picked up the lights and if it would be possible when convenient to pick them up. Normally I would have just said Oh well, no big deal, I'll get new ones. However in this situation we know how long it took me to get the first set of lights.
Well, I get a voicemail a few days later saying (in an I don't give a crap tone) ......."Sorry hun, my husband said your just gonna have to get new lights. If you wanted them you should've come and gotten them sooner. Hope you have a Happy Holiday!"
"*@*%@*" What! Who does that? We had an agreement. I was in tears. Those lights were more than just lights to me, they were a big part of my Christmas happiness.
My sweet hubby searched for lights for me everywhere. But, no luck! I guess I have another 8 years before I will have the lights that make me so happy like a kid on Christmas morning.
So the moral of the story is, there are a lot of "Hum Bugs" out there but don't let them take away your Christmas spirit!