How do you officially kick off the holiday season?

So what's the true start of the Holiday season for you and your family?

Some people tell me it's when they buy that first Christmas present. Or the Black Friday shopping craze the day after Thanksgiving. For my mother, who picks out a new ornament every year for the tree, it's finding that perfect one.

For us, it's when my husband puts up the outside lights and something goes drastically wrong. Like the year we didn't use enough clips to secure the icicles to the roof and they all sprang off at once, while we were in the driveway admiring our work. The year before, something wasn't grounded right and things got sparkly and bright in a way we didn't mean.

This year, we laid everything out perfectly, bought the correct anchoring, made sure there were no splits in the extension cord ... and hung everything up without testing the lights first. Two strands are out, and my husband says they're staying that way until the end of the season. Unless I want the season to end now.

Oh, and my wayward dog has christened the tree by whizzing on the stand. Does it every year.

So it's officially the holidays for us. Long may they rave.

Log in and share your own stories here! (Mostly so I know that I'm not alone.)