christ on a cross, kathleen

One week in and I'm still decorating. I honestly don't remember it ever taking this long. And I didn't even buy anything new this year! (OK, save some extra ornaments for the tree.)

But this year I know I'm being more meticulous and anal about things. Especially the 12-foot-holy-lord-that's-big artificial tree. In years past I didn't care about the back of the tree. Until I stepped outside and realized the back faced a large window. And it was obvious that not only was I a lazy gay for not considering the aesthetic sensibilities of passers-by but I was also a cheap gay for not buying enough ornaments to cover that part of the tree.

Well, the cheap part is right. The whole darn tree is decorated with plastic (read: non-breakable-just-throw-in-a-bag-when-you're-done) ornaments from Wal-mart that I bought after Christmas at 70% off. Which comes out pretty cheap when you can buy 5 ornaments for 95 cents at regular price.

So last year I stocked up on enough ornaments for the whole darn thing.

OK. Now to the question I was asked: "um, aren't you a fuckin' proud gay atheist? What's with the Christmas hoo-ha?"

Asked by a straight person.

Because no gay man would ever ask that.

See, gay men are all about the pageantry. The show. The 'magic'.

And I'm no different. So I don't call it Christmas decorations. It's "Festive Non-denominational Seasonal Shrubbery."

Plus, though I don't buy into the whole virgin birth thing (come on, folks. We all know Mary was a whore.) I do like the idea of giving and gathering. And all those twinkling lights help stave off the seasonal affective disorder just a little.

And though I usually don't believe a word of them, I'm a sucker for Christmas Carols. I don't deny that Christianity has inspired more than one hummable tune. And Christmas Carols rank up there.

Back to the house though.

I've been complaining that "I just want to be done with everything." This also includes raking the leaves from our 15+ full-sized trees and mowing a lawn that hadn't been touched since I started all this. And while the decorations are almost done and the yard needs one more once-over, I still think, "I just want to wake up and not have ANYTHING to do."

Then, while perusing the web, I find these folks. And I don't feel so bad.

THAT is some serious renovation. I could never do it unless I was single. And I wouldn't be doing it how they're doing it. I'd be ripping out all those walls and replacing them before you could say "historic preservation."

And some folks, who are spending tons of money, just aren't spending it the way I would spent it.

Like this guy. Those beautiful, brand-new craftsman style cabinets. Topped by a bathroom floor when it needed marble.

Sidenote: About the worst thing for a vocal music teacher is losing the voice. Mine's not gone, but it's getting there. All this left-over snot drainage, (I know, lovely picture.) is reeking havoc on my voice. When I tried to sing yesterday what came out can only be described as sounding like a cross between a donkey and a boy who's just hit puberty.

So it's video day in Mr. Hart's class.