Trimming the Tree
Every year, Thanksgiving Thursday comes and goes and I enjoy one blissful day off on Friday. I sit around with the family, do nothing but eat leftovers, watch movies, play games, and enjoy the company.
Because come Saturday?
Christmas begins.
We get out the Christmas Tree, I crank up my “Christmas Music” playlist on iTunes, and we decorate the house like happy little elves. (Or, grumpy little elves, in the case of the Geek. I just ignore the grousing.)
Out come my boxed Christmas cards that I always buy at the after-Christmas sales and store for use the next year, and I quickly get them ready to mail.
I start making my lists of Christmas confection goodies to make, and decide how many boxes of delicious homemade cookies, candies and fudge to give away.
The gift box comes out of the closet for wrapping, where every gift I will give is already purchased. I tend to just buy what I know the people I’m buying for will love all year long and store it away, which makes gift-giving SO much easier.
The house stays decorated until the first weekend of the New Year – I just love it when New Year’s Day is on a weekend, because then I get a full extra week of living in Christmas!
In case you can’t tell, Christmas just might be my FAVORITE time of the year. If I could live year round in a house festooned with twinkle lights, evergreen sprays and wreaths, with Christmas music blaring, I’d be pretty doggone happy.
This year, the weekend after Thanksgiving my parents were visiting and we were busy looking for a house for them to move to in their retirement. So, we post-poned decorating until the next weekend.
The next weekend, we did manage to go take a Christmas Train Ride with Santa for Mr. Charm, but quickly succumbed to the stomach bug and weren’t able to even finish hanging the lights on the outside of the house.
The following weekend, we were getting over the stomach bug, and all we had energy to do was finish the task from the previous weekend and get those lights shining brightly!
Last weekend, I had Strep.
Tuesday night, I looked at the Geek and said “We have GOT to get a Christmas tree up!” We’re hosting Christmas for our family this weekend…you can’t host Christmas without a Tree!
We took the cheap and easy way and only put up about 1/3 of the ornaments we usually put on the tree. We didn’t bother with garlands or tinsel. Still, it took us two full days and wore us out!
But, at least we have a tree in the house, now.
No cards were sent this year.
No cookies were made to give out.
No Advent celebrations were done.
No music played until Wednesday.
And I still don’t have any gifts wrapped.
I’m seriously disappointed with the Christmas we put together this year. I know why it happened, and I’m not being hard on myself – I just really love the festiveness of December and my whole family missed out on it because of illness.
SUCH a BUMMER!!
Still, we’re all together and we’ll have a lovely Christmas regardless…but, do you think the Geek will mind if I make him keep the lights and tree up until the middle of January? Just so I don’t feel cheated?
What Christmas traditions do you have?
