Day 45: Now I get it.

Some things are funnier when you're older.

My family and I have lived in our house for 3 years now and each year I'm expected to put up lights outside during the holiday season.  I don't really have a say.  When I complain, I get a reminder that our daughters (the bosses) won't be young much longer.  After my guilt trip, I usually get going.

Usually decorating consists of me throwing a few strands of lights that still work from last season around the tree in the front yard a couple of times and calling it a day.  That wasn't going to cut it this year.

For the past few weeks, my four year old (the manipulator) looks out the window at the neighbor's house lighted up in all it's glory and says, "Can we make our house look like that?".

The neighbor's house: success.

This time I took holiday decorating as a challenge.  I made a plan for how I'll get things done and start early on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  By the end of the day, only half of what I wanted to complete was done because I didn't account for two things:

1. The ladder didn't reach the rooftop.

2. I still haven't conquered my fear of falling off ladders that don't reach rooftops.

Our house: fail.

The day ended with me trying to grab onto some shingles for leverage while I kick my leg up onto the gutter.  What was I thinking?  I stopped and actually said, "What am I doing?  I'm going to end up like Clark Griswold."

And that's when it hit me.  The scene in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where Clark is hanging on his gutter trying not to fall from the roof, got 10 times funnier in that moment.  I used to think it was just a funny scene, but now I get it.  I guess somethings are funnier when your older.