Thanksgiving letdown and Rules for decorating the tree

First of all Thanksgiving was awesome. That's why I'm titling this post the Thanksgiving 'letdown' because it was so much fun, coming home and getting back to normal was like a letdown after a sugar high or something. Like coming home after a vacation. We all kind of had that we need a vacation from our vacation kind of attitude. Normally I'm ready to put the tree up the day after and get going with the sugar cookies and holiday baking etc. This year not so much. There was such build up for the Thanksgiving week...with the family here, the trip to Tahoe... I was just not ready to jump into something else so quickly. We had a blast in Tahoe! It was super fun. Even with 24 people (10 of them children) it was great. There were only a few times where I wanted to escape and really I think that's just my own issue. I'm not huge on big crowds of people. The kids were awesome. Like they never, ever fought the entire weekend. Ever. I don't even remember any significant winning. Seriously. They were awesome. Friday night we even got snow! It dumped about 5 inches in the matter of 3 or 4 hours that night. It was kinda funny though because we were the only people with 4WD. Who goes to the mountains in winter without 4WD or chains?? The kids were so happy to play in the snow Saturday morning. Though, Megan didn't quite like it. I remember Jake hating the snow at her age too. Friday night we hired a babysitter for all the kids and the adults went out for dinner. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Harvey's casino. Within 15 minutes of waiting for our table, Pete's sister won 1,000 dollars on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. She put 50 bucks in, played half of it and won a grand. That kind of thing NEVER happens to me. Dang it. I was happy for her though. If you haven't seen them yet, there are pictures on my Facebook page of the house, the people and the fun we had.
And now on to decorating the tree.
It took a few days for me to even want to get the decorations out. It just did not feel like December to me at all. Don't we usually have a least a week in between Thanksgiving and the first of December? I was not in the mood and not ready. But I finally got way back in the storage closet and drug everything out Wednesday night. Friday night I finally got the tree up. I put on "Christmas Vacation" {my favorite Christmas movie} and got the kids all excited, only to find out that half of the lights on the tree wouldn't work. What a buzz kill. So yesterday morning I drug out my supply of outdoor lights and strung more white lights and then filled in with a few strings of red lights. I think we ended up with over 600 lights on the tree. Finally we got to decorating. Now, I guess you can credit my mom to this fact, but I am extremely particular in how the tree must be decorated. I almost cringe letting my kids decorate it. I know. It's for them. But I can't stand if something is in the 'wrong' spot. I let them have at it, but then I secretly go back and 'fix' things.
Here are my rules for decorating the tree: (please note these are just my opinion and only apply to me, my children and probably my mother)
1. There must be LOTS of ornaments. I personally feel that most people under decorate their trees. Let no branch stand alone!
2. That being said, every ornament MUST hang freely from the branch from which it's hung. Now crowding, leaning or scrunching is allowed.
3. Reach and place ornaments inside the tree. They catch light better that way and it gives more visual interest. And it gives more room for more ornaments!
4. Small ornaments go up top. Larger ones, near the bottom.
5. Certain ornaments are MINE and only I get to hang them. That's because I'm a selfish only child and I don't like to share :D
6. You can't have too many ornaments of the same color, shape or style in one area. ie: you can't have too many red together, or too many round ones together, or too many stars or snowflakes together. (unless of course, your tree is themed, then that is more acceptable)
7. No tinsel or tinsely garland allowed. Beads, ribbon, popcorn or berries or other garland is acceptable, however it must go around the tree from the top to the bottom, be evenly spaced and not interfere with any other ornament or decoration.
8. Icicles and snowflake ornaments go on last, again must be evenly spaced around the tree and still must be free hanging.
And finally:
9. The duck goes at the top.
This one really only applies to me. It's a joke my mom and I have had for years. In 1981 (I was all of 4 years old) I made a clay ornament with my neighbors next door. It was a yellow duck, with a red wing and a blue eye and an orange beak. I would always place it at the tippy top of the tree growing up and my mother would go right behind me and put in the back because she thought it was so ugly. It was cute at one time. But over the years it kept breaking. Now it's nothing but two yellow circles and half of a red wing. No eye, no beak. Just two yellow circles! But it just has to go on the tree. There's no doubt about that.
Any Questions?
There will be a quiz.
Aaaaaannnd...pictures aren't loading. Dang blogger. Oh well, there will still be a quiz ;)