Christmas deflation

I've noticed the past few Christmases that I haven't been nearly as into the decorating and baking parts as I used to be. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, I just think I've gotten a bit jaded over the years. It used to be that I could hardly wait for Thanksgiving dinner to be over so I could start pulling stuff out. The first year we had Master J, I put 10 strings of lights on my tree. It's probably important to note that it was a pre-lit tree. It would take me at least four hours just to decorate my tree. I used to drape every bush & tree, outline anything that didn't move and put a wreath on the door. I set up a village and would spend a weekend baking so I could give out boxes of goodies to our neighbors and co-workers. And now? I put four strings of lights on my real tree and let Master J put the ornaments on. It took me a week to get around to putting the angel on top. We did put up some outside lights, but they were pretty basic. As for baking, well...I did make a batch of fudge. Which we ate ourselves. I used to keep my decorations up until New Year's Day because I hated to let go of the season. This year the only reason I left everything up is because Master J asked me to. Believe me, had it been up to me, the tree would have been out on the curb before sunset on Christmas day. Heck, I quit watering it two days before Christmas in the hopes that it would die and I would have a reason to toss it. No such luck, the stupid thing was still springy green today when we hauled it out. It had hardly lost a single needle. But it is New Year's day, so I could finally take it all down. While I love the season, I'm just as glad to have my house back again. It's like a fresh start to the new year. Now I sit back and relax.