Goodbye, Christmas!

The official end of the holiday season came today with the dismantling of the Christmas tree. I used to follow my mother's lead and decorate all over the house for Christmas, but in the past several years, I've just gotten lazy; this year, we didn't put up our crazy nativity, with the Baby Jesus being watched over by Spider-Man and Wonder Woman while Queen Amidala accompanies the Wise Men (Hallmark ornaments, all), just the tree.

Early his morning, the tree was still whole...

... with presents still beneath:

After breakfast, the tree was denuded; the lights were taken down and the ornaments came off and were packed back into their boxes:

The last ornament standing, so to speak, was Don's tree-topper family heirloom:

Here's the tree with the top piece gone:

Me with my branch-removing-gloved jazz hands, taking a break:

Finally, by noon, the tree was down... long live the papasan chair!!