Two days before Christmas, 2010. Last week's snow has melted, the ice is long-gone but the temperatures remain seasonal which, for around here, means in the 30s. My holiday decorations are meager. One 3-foot glittery tree in a pot on the coffee table surrounded by gifts in matching wrapping paper set off with huge snowflakes in lieu of ribbon. Frosty bough with pine cones on the mantel. That's about it.

But not quite.

There's a wreath on the front door as we didn't want our neighbors to think we'd become Scrooge-like characters who eschewed the celebration.

And let me mention the "Peace on Earth" and "Joy to the World" signs that hang in all their glittered glory on the wall along with one lone wreath in the entryway. Christmas napkins fill the holder and a bowl of red crab apples sit atop a pantry.

Even though I had planned to scale-back this year, and I have, there still is a lot of Christmas around here.

I seem to have quite a bit of it on my body. I sit here wearing silver bell earrings, a glass Santa necklace, holiday bracelet with Christmas bangles and a silver tree pin. Oh my goodness! I have become the very person I warned myself about 30 years ago. The over-accessorizer, the woman who wears one of everything. To my credit I do not have on a Christmas sweater, thanks in part to grand daughters who have scoured every family closet and Goodwill Store looking for these items in which to become the nerd-iest teen around. If they start looking for jewelry next year, I'll have a treasure trove for them.

Merry Christmas. It is so much more than decorations and accessories and presents. I know you know that. Perhaps you will take some time this Christmas to ponder what it does mean.

And that's what I think about it.