Have you ever walked into somebody’s house and immediately felt both 
impressed and comfortably at home? That’s how I felt recently when one of my book clubs met at the home of a new member who bravely invited us over for only her third time with us. And was I glad. She’s a smart and funny free spirit who’s traveled the world, and her house so richly reflects that. On the outside it looks like any normal house in any 
normal subdivision, but inside she and her husband had remodeled and renovated and redecorated to make it their own. 
Every corner and every detail told a story of their lives. I loved especially how they mixed textures and colors and cultures, but because everything springs from what they’re passionate about, it all works. I especially loved the built-in bookcases designed for use, not show — a display of books that obviously are never read always annoys me; I mean, what’s the point? — and the functional and stylish kitchen that works whether there’s one person cooking or a crowd. I am stealing so many ideas from this house, even if the most exotic place I ever shop is the home-decor aisle of TJ Maxx.
Interior Decorating
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This is our house. Okay, not really. But it’s a house my husband 
found and wanted me to look at it and think about, which is a big deal for us because we don’t have an “our” house. The house we live in now is the one my ex- husband and I bought when we first moved to Alabama almost 15 years ago. He and I got divorced shortly after, so for most of those 15 years my two daughters and I have lived there in single-parent female-centric bliss. Now my husband and I have been married for 4 1/2 years, the girls are pretty much out on their own (one married with her own home and the other a college senior) and it’s time for our own place. I mean, he’s a great sport and hasn’t minded that the house is full of girly stuff and remnants of my ex-husband and doesn’t really reflect his style at all. So when he said, “Hey, I found a house I like. Let me show you,” I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I love this house! I love all the little nooks and crannies. I love that it looks different and comfortable all at the same time. Of course, I’d change 
— Tuesday — but now that our tree is (finally) down and all the wreaths and garlands and Santas are packed up and I’ve broken almost every one of my resolutions already, I’m sort of over the holidays and ready to move on … to another holiday, that is. Does your space feel empty without all those Christmas festive touches? I’m always glad to get my house back after turning it over to Christmas for a month, but I miss the whimsy of holiday decor — plus, it covers up the cat hair 
and distracts from the dust. So I keep the wintery things (snow people, mainly) out and gradually add red heart-y Valentine’s Day things, such as those cute heart “trees” and heart candles I put on the mantle after taking off the Christmas stars and angels. On the table by our front door — my absolute favorite piece of furniture in our whole house 
because so far in almost five years of marriage it’s the only one my husband and I have bought together — I’ve got a couple red and wintery serving pieces plus red and green candles I keep out until spring just because I like to. I added a touch of 
Valentine’s Day: A wonderful mini folding photo album out of handmade paper that my younger daughter found at Sojourns, a Fair Trade shop in Birmingham, Ala., and put in my Christmas stocking. Adorable! In our kitchen, I dismantled the bowl of shiny Christmas ornaments that sat on the table and replaced it with three red heart candles. I love the clean look of red on white. Every year around this time I’m so grateful for my grandmother’s advice to always buy red. “You can use it for three out of four seasons,” she said, “and you can always find red things on sale.” So true. Thanks, Grandma. See? I was listening.
Welcome to the first Saturday of 2009 and the ninth day in Cathy’s New Year’s Countdown for a tip on dismantling Christmas at your house. Look, even if you are one of those wonderfully organized people who already have (almost) all the holiday things wrapped, packed, labeled and back in the closet where they belong, you probably have a snowperson here and a Christmas candle there, still hanging around. And of course all the rest of us are staring at the tree that needs taking down today — or is that only me? Anyway, I admit I’m only so-so at housekeeping and downright bad at organization and in no way should I go around dispensing advice on these subjects, but I do love that wonderful feeling when everything is clean and uncluttered and efficient. Granted, because I’m inherently lazy and content to live like a slob, I don’t enjoy that feeling very often. But I know how to get it without much effort, so here’s a quick and easy route to post-holiday satisfaction: When you finally take it all down and put it all up, challenge yourself to 1) Throw/give away three things you don’t use but keep in storage anyway (this is where you can guiltlessly get rid of all those ugly Santas your aunt keeps giving you) and 2) Reorganize so you can easily put your hands on the essential part of your family holidays (the stockings, the Christmas CDs, the Advent calendar) that you spent two weeks trying to find in 2008. Do these things, and I promise you December 2009 will be a little less stressful. Not much, but a little. And isn’t that good enough? Check back for day no. 10 in Cathy’s New Year Countdown.
I wasn’t going to reveal this to everybody but my husband said I had to since 
the blogosphere is all about honesty and sincerity and thruthiness — right? — so the plain simple fact is I only put our tree up yesterday. Yesterday. As in four days before Christmas. I know, I know. Friends were shocked and appalled. Family members kept checking in anxiously on my (non) progress. How did this happen? I’m not quite sure. It’s not that I’m anti-tree. I put my mom’s up for her. I oohed and ahhed over everybody else’s trees. I just never got around to doing my own. I didn’t do it the weekend after Thanksgiving because I was gone and I was gone the next weekend, too, and then I had the Sinus Infection From Hell and then suddenly it seemed too close to time 
to take it down to put it up. And I was sort of approaching it as an experiment: How would I feel if I didn’t put a tree up? As Dec. 25 got closer, I got my answer: Not good. So up it went on Monday and everybody has been properly impressed. I have had the stockings up since Dec. 1, though, so there you are. And here’s the thing: Our Christmas tree is not one of those beautifully color-coordinated and themed trees. I think those are pretty, but I don’t do it myself. Nope. Our tree is like a family scrapbook — one with green stickery things that the cats climb up. We’ve got 20-year-old kindergarten wreaths and baby Jesuses sharing branch time with vacation souvenirs and mementos of favorite things and good times. Now, that’s a Christmas tree.
Thanks for checking in all week as we’ve counted down my five favorite Christmas movies. So here we are at the top spot. Have you guessed it yet? No surprise, really. At No. 1 of the five top holiday movies, we have – ta da! — “A Christmas Story.” This is the best Christmas movie ever made. Ever. In the whole world. I will accept no arguments otherwise. Ralphie’s quest to make the adults in his life understand his heart’s desire crosses all boundaries. This movie is the perfect confluence of writing, acting and producing, and I’m proud to say I saw it during its theatrical release in December, 1983, in a theater in downtown Nashville, Tenn. – and told everybody I knew afterwards that they had to watch this movie. Its gentle nostalgic humor combined with writer Jean Shepherd’s sharp dialogue is a rare cinematic treasure. Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillion are perfect as Ralphie’s parents, and Peter Billingsley as Ralphie is pure joy. I especially love all the authentic late 1930s-early 1940s details, such as the wonderfully stocked kitchen and other interiors in the Parker house. You can actually feel the wintry cold and smell the lost turkey. (Go to 
Coffee with Cathy 