I'm baaaaaa-aaack!

After a whirlwind trip down South to visit relatives, attend a graduation, a commissioning, and a big party, I have returned to the Great White North. Holy Moly! It was 50 degrees the day before I left and now it's like winter or something! We got a foot of snow right before I was to fly into Boston, so I feel rather lucky to have made it. Most of the flights the morning I left had been cancelled, and I just happened to be on an early afternoon flight - one of the first ones they let into Boston! Whew!

I'll take some snow photos tomorrow. Today was the day of unpacking, looking through all the mail and packages that had arrived and answering my seventy-leven hundred emails!

These are photos from several years ago when our house was on a tour of historic homes that are open to the public during the holiday season. It was one weekend in early December, so I figured it'd be fun to have thousands of strangers stompling through my house, right? Jeez, Louise! Fun is not the adjective I'd use to describe it. Horrifying? Messy? Weird? Never again? Those are really what come to mind now!

Anywho, as part of the decor, I decided it'd be cute to put a Christmas tree in the back yard aside from the one in the living room! The dogs were fascinated by this tree!



That's Lady, there, on the left, and Koty on the right.

I spent over a week and well over a thousand dollars getting our house perfectly clean and decorated. The decorations were far more lavish than I like, but I know the houses are expected to be amazing, so I went a little crazy with the decorations.

The night before the tour was to begin, two of the ladies on the tour committee came by to inspect the house and decor. One of the ladies (and I'll use that term VERY loosely) said "This is it?"

Seriously? It was all I could do to restrain myself from either treating her to a lengthy verbal affront OR beating her with a fireplace poker. Or both.

In any case, our house was a big hit that year, I'm happy to report!