Sunday, November 26, 2006

So we find ourselves in a pretty weird place.

Instead of making our list and checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and who's nice, The Chows and I are reconfirming hotel reservations and theatre ticket purchases as we are not going to spend Christmas here at Bellemaison. Told you it was a weird thing that's going on. We'll fly from here to London, shake off the jet lag and see Billy Elliott and Mary Poppins in the West End and then hop down to The Eternal City, where we have tickets for midnight mass at Vaticano. The Home Office. San Pietro himself. We're pretty excited but at the same time confused. Good thing we have the new kids next door.

Last year, Mac, Ella, Sunny and Bobby moved in. We love those guys! Ella can talk about 350 words a minute. Mac is a real action man: jumping, hopping, swinging, moving. Sunny is my friend who waves and waves, leans out of her car seat in the mini van and waves--I'm 300 yards away and this merry Sunshine still waves at me every chance she gets. The Incredible Hulk could be driving my car and you wouldn't know because the windows are tinted very dark and this little blond confection waves like crazy, because she knows it's me. Her twin brother, Bobby, just grins and stays close to Ella; never takes his eyes or his smile off you. Just grins. Widely. We*love*these*kids.

So. We changed out our 'Tara' Christmas decorations outside. Totally went against the grain with the new concept, too. Wholly committed to the New Way and the New Age here at Bellemaison as we gave all the former outside lights, bows, wreaths, candles, trees and miscellany away. We have a whole new deal going here. With those other neighbors, we went with stated elegance appropriate to the architecture of the house. It was Williamsburg meets Philadelphia meets Greenville and did I mention we have salmon real close as we are NORTH of the Mason-Dixon Line? look. People would stop me in the store and tell me how much they loved my Christmas decorations. So much, I stopped going to the store. Now they have something new to adjudicate because starting here and starting now, we are CandyLand at Bellemaison.

Yup. We took the pink fright lights from Halloween and held them back this year and put them up on all the front eaves this weekend. We purchased 8 foot lighted Nutcrackers from Costco in September (wince) (mea culpa). They flank the drive-in garage doors. We have candy canes and peppermints lining the entire driveway. We have gumdrops across the entire face of the porch. The windows are framed in peppermints with blue outlines. We have glisteny icicles hanging off all the windows sills. We have the same pepermints and candy canes ringing the front door. Colored twinkle lights blanket the lavendar hedge. We have a big wreath with lit peppermints hung on the street chimney at the bottom of the driveway with a big fluffy red and white striped bow.

The one thing that perplexes us still is the lollipops we need across the flower bed lining the front porch. We need 5 foot tall lollipops that we can plant in a merry inspection line. Is there some other way besides 24 inch styrofoam circles wrapped in clear cellophane? I am having trouble locating the styrofoam; it either needs to surface or I need to come up with a new idea.

So Advent is upon us. The anticipation has arrived. We wait in hope and faith.

It IS the most wonderful time of the year, isn't it?

JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

6 comments:

Leon's current assignment said...

Well it sounds like it might be the most wonderful time of the year at your house, might be just the ticket.

It never feels like the most wonderful time of the year in this lifetime but there's always hope.

You go, you decoratin' fiend. Hope your Thanksgiving was groovy, baby.


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Anonymous said...

Yes, yes! Pictures! We want pictures!

It's my favorite time of the year too... all except for the bitter cold... but it never stays that cold for long here in the Emerald City. This month we've had the rainiest November EVER, and now snow and ice and brrrr... cold! I'm thinking a tropical island Christmas would be nice.

But your jet-setting plans rock too!

Pictures of CandyLand? Please!?!?

JBelle said...

hi girls! Me loves me girlfriends. Her Holiness, might I say that when Your Eminence graces my path, it's always a groovy, consciousness-expanding day? I'd show you pictures of me when I was 30 but I had hair in my face and two little grimy kids attached to my hips. As if those child-bearing vessels weren't big enough to begin with....

Bre! Bre! Bre! BREANN. I am utterly thrilled about your girl baby. Utterly. Thrilled. You work at that place in CdA that's real busy right now, right? The one where folks can stop by for what they need for dinner? I want to get out there before Christmas because in my mind, you've already middle-named her Belle. :) God, I love this time of year.

And Shelley! This is going to be a perfect day now. I know it. I might picture you on Candyland. Problem is, I am paranoid about who lurks in the internet, waiting for an opening to victimize me. And it's not the people I know here but the people I don't know here that make me anxious. Because The Chows don't take that shit lightly. ;) So, if you are not planning to do a drive by...maybe a small picture. Or I could just email you a set. Better. Just between girls and don't say I said this, but: it's pretty damn cute. And I don't particularly enjoy cute. But I love this. And so do my new friends Mac, Ella, Sunny and Bobby.

I love this time of year.

Anonymous said...

Yes, please, e-mail me a picture! I promise not to send it to the Spokesman-Review or publish it on the Internet for all the crazies to see. :-)

Here in Seattle near the UW, we have "Candy Cane Lane" -- a circular street of classic homes individually decorated, some with window displays too (I'm partial to the toymakers house), and all with giant candy canes. They've been doing the theme since 1949. The homeowners give up their privacy and quiet for a month every year as thousands of people traipse through on foot or drive through slowly, sometimes two or three times.

It's cool, but probably not as cool as your CandyLand!

... said...

What a trip you're gonna be taking! How very cool, and meaningful as well, with papa himself and all...

Yes. Take pictures. And don't forget my single malt, ok?

... said...
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