It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (In My House)

Monday night, we put our Christmas tree up. Family traditions from my childhood dictate that this act should be done on the weekend before Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving weekend itself.

Over Thanksgiving week, J's extended family comes in for a big Thanksgiving/Pre-Christmas celebration. This is complete with full holiday meals and gifts for 30+ people. So, the Thanksgiving week is a little busy. (That was sarcasm, in case you might have missed it. Thanksgiving is INCREDIBLY busy.) So, after marrying J, our tradition became to put the decorations up as soon as possible in November.

Normally I take on the task of the tree by myself. Sometimes J will help with the lights. I collect ornaments, and each has its own story and special meaning. I have a particular order and location in mind for the placement of each on the tree. I know. I am difficult like that. This year, being pregnant prevents me from doing any lifting and climbing around on the ladder. Poor J.

This year, we hauled out the 9 foot tree that we have not been able to use for a few years. As we moved around during the house construction phase, we did not have the place for a large-size tree. This year, we are in the new house and our great room with vaulted ceiling and atrium windows has the perfect location for our big tree.

In addition, this year we have planter shelves to decorate. Our first shot at decorating these shelves Monday night left us both unsatisfied. Today, I did a little holiday decoration shopping. I bought prelit garland and poinsettias. It looks fabulous. Well, now it does.

As we unwrapped the garland tonight, we realized I bought one strand of colored lights, and all the rest were white. My OCD will not allow these lights to exist in the same room. So, we had extra strands of lights that were half-working, and some leftover garland from last year. My wonderful, terrific husband went through the strands and checked every bulb and replacing the duds until he had all the lights working. Then I got the job of winding the lights and the garland. We are so proud of our handiwork. I have not had a chance to photograph our efforts, but I will post them when I can. You know, next year sometime.