Hurry, One More!

One more Christmas post! Is it nearing the end of the Christmas season already? Maybe some people are already done--I'll be done Wednesday morning when the decorations are put away. But I thought I'd post about this particular decoration.
This thing cracks me up. Isn't it the funniest wedding gift you've ever seen? Especially when you find out my wedding was in August! But Dot gave it to me, so no returns or re-gifts. Dot is an old family friend who is the eccentric, fun, kind lady you never forget. Some of my earliest memories are of her condo up at Snowbird and the creepy elephant foot she had as a footstool in her basement. She passed away recently and I can't remember the last time I saw her, but nobody in our family will forget her.

So the tacky elf. I love it and I hope I never throw it away. I hope I never become a person who can't appreciate a cheesy elf and let it live among the classier decorations. My parents often quoted Dot with this phrase:

"Be pretty if you can be, smart if you are, and smile if it kills you."

I looked at it tonight and smiled and thought of funny Dot. I need some more eccentric people in my life :)