and That's a Wrap

The festive decor has been reduced to the large rubbermaid tote (shown in the photo) and has made it's decent back into the basement.  Tomorrow, hubby will channel his inner Clark Griswold one last time this season and wrestle his lights off of snow covered bushes.  And that my friends will mark the end of Christmas '08.

I do enjoy the holiday season, but I love the return of normalcy as well.  Last year we made a December trek to Disney World and although I think I am in the minority, I didn't love it.

I shall explain why.

The Weather: December in Orlando is a crapshoot.  We lucked out with fabulous sunny skies and temps in the low 80s everyday.  However, the morning we left the temps were in the low 40s and they had a freakish cold front that lasted a few days after we left.  We had packed everything from swimsuits to mittens.  There was also the added stress of how weather around the country would effect our flights.  Again we were the lucky ones.  A huge snowstorm in the Northeast forced us to stay an extra day.  This was great, but would have really been bad if the day delay had kept us in Boston at the start of the trip and not Orlando at the end.

The Decorations: I was surprised that this one bothered me.  As pretty as everything was and as fun as the music was, I missed the Disney World that I know and love.  The castle was beautiful with the icicle lights and the Osbourne Lights at DHS is worth the trip all by itself.  I just found that I missed the familiar sights and sounds.  

The Stress that is December:  December is a busy month as it is.  There are cards to send, presents to wrap, etc. etc. etc.  As a teacher I also have report cards and parent conferences that month.  Throw trip planning and packing into that and it makes for a really hectic month.  I like to anticipate a trip.  I LOVE the planning process.  The December trip was more like a blip than an event and I felt a little cheated. It is also the time of year when folks really start to get sick and I felt like I was on a constant cootie watch before and during the trip so that illness didn't ruin our getaway.

To me a trip to Disney is about sunny skies, warm weather, the castle, the music, and most importantly...the escape from reality.  I will say that there is no such thing as a bad day at Disney and I'm certainly not complaining about having gone.  

However, when we returned last April I found that I had that same feeling I get when the red and green tub goes back into storage.  I had fond memories of an enjoyable time, but it feels real good to have "normal" back.