There are lights on the tree…
…and leaves hanging from the mantel.
The fireplace decor sums up the situation. Honestly, though, it’s okay if it takes another week or two to get all gussied up for Christmas — after all, it was just a few weeks ago that I managed to put away the final few pieces of the Christmas decor from last year!
Spokalulu 
Don’t I know the feeling! I was looking for a runner I normally use only at X-mas… Couldn’t find it until I got down to the bottom of a much-neglected laundry basket. Luckily, it’s made out of the same material as rag-rugs (cut in slimmer strips) so it will be quite OK after a wash in mild soap and left hanging to dry.
Lucky I never have aspired to the title ‘Good Housekeeper’ – both people around me and I have survived 40+ years of my neglect of housewifey duties.
(PLEASE NOTE) this is in no way a put-down of SAHM’s – on the contrary, I have the deepest respect for you all!
You did what I didn’t do for more than the time I could stay at home on maternity-leave. (Or… was it that I didn’t have a spouse who supported me so I COULD be a SAHM at least for the first year.)
I’ll provide pictures of the runner, once it has graduated from the laundry-basket to a more dignified existense in public.