The Christmas Checklist

Thanksgiving is now behind us, and it is time to focus on Christmas (or Hanukkah). Every year, it seems my Christmas checklist gets bigger and bigger, but every year, I manage to get everything all done in a timely manner. Today is December 1st, and I am in good shape for the holidays (I just wish I was in good shape in general, but that’s another story). I can breathe easy now. I have almost everything done. 🙂

1. Outside lights

We have a HUGE pine tree in our side yard that Larry decorates every year, as well as all the house lights. Larry is tall. He’s 6’4″, and he is standing on the top rung of the ladder, using his hockey stick to align the lights. But he STILL can’t get to the very top of this tree. And it just keeps growing and growing every year, which is perfectly OK by me.

2. Christmas decorations up

We have a big house and usually put up 3 trees every year. We have artificial trees, one of which is somewhere between 15-20 feet tall. This one goes in our family room.

Larry is checking all the lights and restringing them.

Nicky is helping Daddy.

We put up a colorful, smaller tree in the living room.

And we put an even smaller tree in the art niche atop of the stairs.

We also have lighted garlands curled around the railings of the stairs.

We have an ever growing collection of ornaments to decorate all these trees. Our ornaments are VERY eclectic. Each one has its own story. Some of are from my parents and are very old. Most are from our travels. We have specific ornaments for Larry and his activities and some for me and my activities. We have ornaments that represent each of our fur babies, both past and present. And we have a lot of ornaments from our annual ornament exchange parties too.

We had some help decorating this year too. Two of our “nieces” and their dad were helping out.

I am REALLY glad I am not buying a live tree this year, let alone three. Yesterday when I was out running errands, I saw a tree that was literally only about 1/2 the size of our big tree for $229. I was definitely in sticker shock, and probably would have had a heart attack on the spot if I was actually purchasing it.

3. Christmas cards, letters and pictures

All the Christmas cards, complete with their letters and photos all went out yesterday.

4. Presents – still working on them. I have most of the presents I am giving this year bought, though I still have a few more to buy. I still need to wrap all the presents for the locals, but most of my packages that needed to be shipped were shipped out yesterday.

5. Our annual ornament exchange and potluck party. Soon. This will be next Saturday, 12/9, at 3:00 PM. I still need to plan my menu and clean the house, But I still have a week for that. If any of you are in the area, come on by and help us ring in the season with glad tidings and good cheer, a lot of good food and good fun too. I always say the more the merrier. We even have some friends from Canada joining us this year. 🙂

So, bring on the Christmas season! We are ready to celebrate!!!!

We had three of our four fur babies for our annual Christmas picture, though just barely. Nicky was on the run, and Otis didn’t want any part of it. But Juneau and Dorrie were all in. They LOVE the camera, and the camera loves them too.

Happy Holidays Everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or a great holiday of your choice. Keep the holidays safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.