Ho ho hum

So we decorated our house for Christmas this weekend.

For the last few years, Christmas decorating has not been something I’ve looked forward to. Because it means pulling heavy boxes from the back of a storage closet. Untangling lights. … And Kates and I always end up bickering about what ornaments should go where on the tree, or how certain decorations should be arranged on the shelves. Don’t get me started on some of her Christmas tins and her affliction for snowmen.

Just today I made three separate trips to Wal-mart for extra lights and storage containers.

It also didn’t help that our Bearcats lost to one of our biggest rivals. We had the game streaming on the internet as the decorating commenced, and when the Cats went up 10-0 in the first quarter, it looked as though it was going to be our team’s day once more. But the opponent outscored us 7-41 the rest of the way. Season over.

On a side note: I broke for my second trip to Wal-mart during halftime of the football game. To my delight, the store’s sound system was broadcasting the game. The same was true when I stopped across the street a few minutes later at the grocery store. It was one of those “You know you’re in The ‘Ville when …” moments. It’s pretty special to have the town embrace the team to that degree.

We actually set up the tree Friday night, and Phoebe -- as always -- was all about helping me. In fact, it couldn’t have been a better project for her. With each of the branches coded by letters and colors, Phoebe was all over it. First she followed my directions to separate each of the branches by their colors. Then, when it was time to assemble the tree, I called out the letters I needed and she brought them to me with gusto. I enjoyed every minute of it.

By Saturday evening the three of us were cheerfully decorating the Christmas tree together …

We also got out an old videotape of children’s television specials my parents handed down to me shortly after Phoebe was born. The tape starts with “A Chipmunk Christmas,” and Phoebe was enthralled … It goes on with “The Christmas Toy,” a live- action, Jim Henson-produced Christmas story about what happens when toys’ owners are not in the room. Or as I like to call it, the original “Toy Story.”

So another year of decorating is complete. … In a few weeks, the taking down of the decorations.