Just keeping it real people!

Ok, so I've showed a few of our cute "christmasy" ideas that worked inside, but neglected to mention the disaster that occurred in my desire to be "the perfect wife".  When I returned from Maryland, I'd missed Shaun so much that I wanted to surprise him with something special.  SOooo... I decided when the baby was taking a long nap one night to go ahead and decorate the entire outside of the house with white chrismas lights... porch, rails, bushes, fence... pretty right!? 

In fact, I was going to singlehandedly be the one to bring Christmas spirit to our neighborhood street (NO lights).  I was going to show everyone how beautiful putting in a little effort could be.  And if even I, a new wife and new mother to a tiny baby could do it... so could all the rest of my neighbors (and those drivers by who would be inspired by the beauty of our little home).  Well, now try to imagine how happily deluded I was in my own little world (with my incredibly overactive imagination going a mile a minute) as I went about decorating everything I could with so many white lights (from our wedding reception we had a ton left over) and even getting compliments from the neighbors that came home as to how nice it all was beginning to look. 

I beamed with pride at the compliments, thinking it was just a matter of time before the WHOLE street was decorated too after following my lead.  Well... if I had only remembered that pride cometh before the fall.

Why have you not see photos or heard mention yet of said lights you wonder?  This is why.

Upon stringing the last string of lights ...I blew them ALL!  They ALL went out.  Yup.  Well... now think of that memorable scene from National Lampoons Christmas vacation when Chevy Chase is desperately trying to make the plug work? 

I never understood until that moment why that scene was so memorable and what made it so funny.  I didn't realize how many had probably identified with it in fact.  But at that moment, THAT was me. 

And to make it worse, Shaun was only 20 min away.  Maybe I could fix them I thought.  Then the baby (who never screams) started screaming (she took that moment to begin teething).  I couldn't do a thing but leave everything as it was and focus on the babe.  (Perhaps a little reminder from above that that was all I should have been focusing on all along... the babe.  Both mine and the one coming in the manger)

And as the teething continued and the long naps did not and the colder weather (sort of) rolled in and the days passed by I DID try to fix them a few times, but they blew all over again each time and I finally gave up before Chrismas came (there was just too much else to do).  I kept thinking I'd fix them, but instead of coming to terms with my epic fail, I left the outside of the house  messy "ready for fixing"and it just sort of stayed like that.

Shaun came home and laughed and just said, "That's why I don't do Christmas lights."  NOT exactly the effect I was going for.

So our almost inspired neighbors may have wondered what happened to the pretty display and the mailman may have thought we were slobs but the outside of our home instead of looking like a pretty magazine... looked like this:

 garland and lights ready to decorate (and a plant from the cemetary when we switched over the grave site and put a chrismas display instead.  At least Grandma and Grampa's grave was decorated nicely.)

 more bags of lights

 and more...

 our poor once lovely little porch...

 not TOO bad from afar

 the lights starting to slip on the fence...

 I realize now during the day how TERRIBLE white lights look on bushes  (we only had white wire)

 the last string of lights and the point where it blew everything...

 Oh well.  At least the wreath looked pretty!

I finally came to the realization again that I have a new baby and am NOT a perfect wife and mother.  I also came to the realization that I didn't need to be for Shaun to love me.  He always makes me feel like a success ...even in the midst of my failures.  Thanks honey.  I'll try again next year (or not).