decorations?

[linda/IL]

Down? Packed away?  I know some of you didn't do much but I kept tweaking & bringing a little more out.  I do enjoy having the house softly lit and I hate to take it down.  Always seems so drab & dark.  I still have one tree to take down and I've left a little garland w/white lights to brighten this dismal weather.  To be honest, I was so busy with evening chores then baking when I came in or wrapping that I really didn't have time to sit & enjoy.  Snowmen will stay for awhile.

I made a promise to myself I would sort the decorations out & pitch the old stuff I don't use anymore so I spent a good part of the day doing that.  I usually just box it up with a "next year I'll sort" promise.  Need to get another big storage box as the old cardboard one is shot.  Part of my decluttering plan-making a little headway!

It's kind of sad that the world is done with it all on Dec. 25.  In church we just started celeberating the birth of Christ.  It was so peaceful yesterday to see the pretty decorations & listen to the choir sing Christmas carols and not have to worry about doing this or that.  They sang "Mary Did you Know?"-love that modern one.  If we could only keep the peaceful feeling in this busy world.

[turkey feather]

I am with you here. Still have large tree up and a couple of small ones but will work on that today, I hope. I have promised myself I will sort through the boxes before adding more things this time. I have heard several people say that they can't really enjoy the tree until all the work is done which is after Christmas. It is very cold here so I won't take down the outside lights unitl it warms up.

[soilbabe]

Linda, I am the same way.  I have a few Santa figurines that I packed away but the items with snowmen or holly berries will stay out for another month.  Ed and I are loving our tree and he suggested that I leave it up for a while longer.  It makes our house look so warm and sparkly and cozy.  I will leave our Nativity out until Epiphany which is next Sunday....or maybe a little beyond that. 

At Christmas Eve Mass I didn;t want it to be over when the service was done.  It was such a change of pace and feeling from the frantic world of shopping, sales and materialism that was shoved at us since Thanksgiving weekend.  I felt that same peace and enjoyment when we went to church this past Sunday, too.  All of the magic of Christmas was there...the Nativity, trees, poinsettias, candles, wreaths, Christmas carols....I just love it.  When the world has kicked Christmas to the curb for the trash men to pick up, you can still find the peace and promise of Christ's birth at church.

I sometimes long for the Christmas of my youth.  My parents were old country in the sense that our tree wasn't put up or decorated until Christmas Eve but we celebrated for two weeks from then until Epiphany (Little Christmas).  This was way before the marketing companies created Black Friday and Cyber Monday and all the rest of the hype that comes right on the heels of Halloween. 

We finally got snow and cold weather yesterday, of course, just in time for me to have to get out of bed early and drive in the dark.  We have a dusting of snow and the temps are the coldest of the year so far but I layered up and enjoyed the fresh air especially when the sun came out and the shone on the snow. 

In any event, my DD encourages me to keep the tree up as long as she does which if until DGD's birthday on February 7.  Not sure I can go that long but it is going to be up for a while longer....

BTW, we did my family's crazy New Year's tradition of having a BBQ for dinner on New Year's Day.  I remember fondly cooking steaks out in sub zero weather up in New York.  Back in the days before gas grills, my dad would light a big fire and cook them over wood heat.  Ed and I had BBQ pork ribs, macaroni salad, fresh fruit and iced tea....that was our BBQ dinner to ring in the new year!  We had a blast!

Happy New Year to all of you. 

[Kay/NC]

My new wreath on the front porch is still up...it is not all that Christmasy, so can hold for a while, until it warms back up a bit.  Everything else is down, and headed to the garage tomorrow. 

Those special heirloom stockings stay in a dedicated drawer in the house...I tuck them away after the kids leave, or by the next day, at latest.   

I did very little for decorations, even for me, this year.  Just too much mess in the house in general, and running too hard to get the materials all in place for the men to keep moving forward.  No one seemed troubled by that decision...they loved the brunch I laid out on the new cabinet top - even thought it was only partially completed at the time - and had a good visit. 

I expect we will do more when the GS gets old enough to notice.  Right now, he is getting quite full of himself, grinning and wrapping this old woman around his tiny pinkie finger. 

I have spent time with him a lot this week, while daughter dealt with getting her horses all ready for the extreme cold moving in, and on her followup OB appointment today.  We shopped while she got a pedicure, afterwards...one of her gifts I thought would help her pamper herself. 

Didn't realize I would get to keep him while she got spoiled, so win-win there!  Right now, I want to light some candles in the house while we relax in the evenings...just makes it seem warmer....