With early deadlines, I've been rushing to get things done this week. The column has been on the backburner, but now as I sit to write it, it seems almost a relief to be able to write it and take my mind off all the other things I need to do.

What's really important to me right now is getting through the holiday season and trying to figure out how to do my job and simultaneously get my house ready for the entire family to come and visit.

Yes, our house is again the host site for Christmas dinner and gift-giving, annually a part of our family Christmas. My mother, who is no longer a spring chicken, doesn't want everyone to come to her house due to the mess that she usually has to clean up. At our house, with me and two children always making a mess, it probably won't make that much difference.

Each member of the family used to buy gifts for everyone, then we switched over to buying one very nice gift for a person whose name you drew. After that, we changed over to buying one really cheap gift and then picking gifts and exchanging with one another.

We've come up with enough $10 gifts and even managed to pay for them; no small feat with things going the way they have for so many people this year. I can't complain, since I have a job and the bills are all paid.

Even so, with the value of our money plummeting precipitously along with our much-maligned economy, it is definitely something to be thankful for.

It's hard to hope for a very good outcome when one is beset with the conundrum of finding a desirable present for a mere $10. On the other hand, it is still easier to find a $10 present than the $10 with which to buy it.

It may be even harder still when looking through a pile of unmarked present bags and trying to find a desirable present, but that's not really as much of a concern. In this case it may really be better to give than receive.

The other major concern for me with my entire family coming to the house is to prevent looking too 'redneckish.'

In case you don't understand, the yard should be void of large auto parts, scrap metal, rotting lumber and anything else that isn't a statue, fountain or flower garden. At least that's what my wife thinks. I've always enjoyed seeing a few works of ' modern art' in the lawn, but I'm usually overruled. I do have a chicken house, an untouched garden plot covered with forgotten plants and a stand of bees that have thus far passed under the radar.

But I was prompted to do something about it, so I spent the better part of the day Saturday trying to clean up. With the weather unseasonably warm, the task was actually quite pleasant.

Saturday also is the day when we move the firewood from the big pile on the hill to the little stack on the porch. Roughly a half cord of wood fits on the porch, which usually will last about three weeks. Everyone who's big enough to lift a stick of wood helps. I think working together on things as a family builds unity. It also means that dear old Dad has to lift fewer sticks of wood, so I have an ulterior motive.

With temperatures like we had Monday, with the thermometer reading 4 degrees and the wind howling in the morning, it's not hard to imagine burning lots and lots of wood. It is, however, hard to imagine that just a couple days prior I was outside without a coat on for a good part of the day. In looking over the LaRue estate, problems were not hard to find Saturday, especially from looking at the lawn.

I'm still one who tends to put off things as long as possible, so there were plenty of things to see. I started with the most obvious, including the john boat that has rested on a five gallon bucket behind the house for the past year or so. I moved it up to the back of the building, where I even had a little place ready for it. The next place I hope to take it is somewhere with water.

I then went to the back porch, where the previously mentioned washer and dryer sat unwanted and unattended. While I still haven't found a buyer for the washer, I managed to find a home for the dryer. I even delivered it Saturday to get it out of the way. Maybe I'll have time one evening this week to move the washing machine into my building. It's probably more redneckish to have a washing machine on the back porch than it is to have an upside down boat behind the house, I decided.

I also picked up some of the loose garbage that had blown through my yard and caught along the edges during recent wind storms and loaded up all my trash to go to the dump, which is about a monthly thing for me since the trash truck doesn't come to the house. Overflowing trash cans and plastic bags in the bushes probably meet the redneck criteria.

We also decided to get the pallets out from between the pines at the house and stack them up to be burned. For the past couple of years I have not stacked my firewood, but instead put it in a big pile like a haystack. It makes it easier to cover with a tarp and it is also less work. I like the less work part. However, I still had the pallets between the trees, along with a few pieces of discarded lumber that had long passed its usefulness. We also loaded up a couple of tree limbs that had broken during the last windstorm.

I then moved a few pieces of scrap metal and an old pedal car from the front of the building. You never know when that might come in handy.

The utility pole that used to house the electrical connection for my house was my last target. It had been laying behind the house for about a year—ever since it broke off during the ice storm while my family was on vacation in February. Just as I started to tug it up the hill with the truck, a cold rain set in. I still had more I wanted to do, but the rain pretty well made up my mind. Besides, most of the rest of it can't be seen from the road or the windows and doors. You know, I bet we aren't the only ones who clean the yard before relatives come over.