18 Days till Christmas

 We woke, went to the early morning communion service, early morning traditional service, followed by Sunday school. It is the 2nd Sunday of Advent which meant it was time for the lighting of the peace candle. I love this time of year and all of the traditional hymns celebrating the season, so I thought 2 songs are best for the day. One is not a Christmas song but it does represent the Advent candle lighting, and the other is one of my favorite Christmas hymns.

I did no decorating or Christmas baking but I did take an accidental nap. We were watching the Alabama basketball game and I dozed for about an hour, It felt good until I woke and realized I had been sound asleep in a weird sitting position. Things were kind of stiff and creaky when I stood up..

Dinner was a hamburger patty smothered in cooked onions, saffron rice, and green beans. I had almost forgotten how to cook, since it has been a while since I made an actual meal.

When I was getting the ground chuck out of the freezer, I noticed some sweet bread TheHub bought at the November Merry Market. I stuck it in the freezer because he overbought goodies that day. We just have to agree I reacted to it's siren song and I suppose you might say we indulged in some Christmasy bread, but I have no idea what kind (other than delicious) it really was.

After we ate, we both got in our respective TV spots, covered up with blankets and watched 2 Christmas movies. TheHub was the one who slept through parts of both. movies this time.

All in all, it was a good day!

19 Days till Christmas

 I finished addressing a few rogue Christmas cards and that was about it for Christmas doings for today. It was a ballgame day (Bama not only lost but they were murdered, metaphorically) Oh well, I watched the carnage anyway.

Even so I am still filled with Christmas spirit!

20 Days till Christmas

 I am really and truly not crazy about this song, but it seemed appropriate for the day.

I woke at my regular time this morning, had coffee, read a few blogs then began to get ready for the day. Oh gee, after I was dressed and all made up, I looked at my nails. Wow, I had really let them go, but had time for a quick manicure (repair maybe is a better term) before heading out for the first event of the day.

My Beloved Sister came by and picked me up to go to our book club Christmas party, a luncheon at C's house. It is the perfect place to have a party  because walking into her beautiful home is visually stunning, like Christmas on steroids. There is not a surface in her home which has not been touched by something holiday related, including 5 full sized decorated trees  (that I saw downstairs, but I am betting she has a tree in the primary suite as well). 

And when I say decorated I mean beautiful trees filled with lights and ornaments.  It is the most impressive decorating I have ever seen in a home, and is truly Christmas magazine worthy. I bow to her  greatness!

In addition to the exquisite decorating, we had a delicious lunch, good conversation, and a lot of laughter.

I have known these women forever, and I cannot think of a better group to grow older with.

After the party was over, MBS brought me home so I could begin to get ready for round 2 of parties. 

This one was at a local restaurant, The Bright Star. They have really good food and a private dining room large enough to accommodate the group.

We met early for cocktails and conversations before dinner. It was much fun and we shut the restaurant down. I think the staff was happy to see us go, but even happier for the addition to their bottom lines 

I would like to say I got more done toward Christmas, but this was just a day to enjoy friends. 

21 Days until Christmas

 

 I slept late this morning and had a hard time kick starting myself. I guess I needed something fast paced to get me moving.

I went back into the living room in the daylight and decided the tree had some bare spots, and noticed the same with the foyer tree. I spent a couple of hours critically placing additional ornaments on both trees and I think I am satisfied with how they look now.*

Every year I decorate the chandelier in the dining room. I got it done, but feel like it still needs a little more. I decided to leave it as is and check it out tomorrow to see what I think then. Sometimes I get "decoration blind" and if I wait a bit I can see what need to be rearranged, subtracted from, or added to.

The den tree is still a work in progress, mainly because I was just not feeling it. As the night went on I obviously still was just not feeling it because I did nothing else to it. 

Instead I got all of the wrapped gifts and decided it was time to zhuzh them up to be ready to go under the tree. I have mentioned before I wrap them and write the name of the giftee on the bottom of the package in sharpie. Later (like tonight) I bow, tag and add a little extra doo dad to the present. Again no one cares except for me, but I like them to be really festive.

I had plenty of time to cook, but TheHub and I agreed it felt like a soup night, so we had a smoked sausage soup.

* Bummer, now some of the lights on the living room tree are blinking instead of staying on continually. No way I am going to take all the ornaments off just to fix that.

22 Days until Christmas

 I think TheHub and I are both still tired from taking the red eye home because we slept later than normal, and I had very little time to get ready fro my Wednesday class. Luckily it will be the last one until after the new year. The day was at least sunny and a tad warmer than it has been, so that is a big plus.

I headed home, did a little banking business, had lunch and put on really soft clothes to finish all the decorating I need want to do. I know perfectly well Christmas will happen whether things are bright and shiny, but it make me happy to have it done. So essentially, I am decorating just to please myself.

After a quick lunch the work began.

The living room tree and foyer tree are done, but the den tree still needs some work. The front porch trees are out and shining. I still need to rework their bows, but that is easy. I am still undecided about putting a lighted swag over the doorway, but will decide tomorrow.

My beloved sister and I fine tuned our menu for the cousins luncheon, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

TheHub grabbed dinner for us since I was still trimming the trees. We ordered one meal to share plus an egg roll each from New China and still have enough leftover for lunch.

And now I am about ready to hit the sack, only to finish a few more things tomorrow. Thankfully I don't have to be anywhere at all.

23 Days until Christmas

 We are in the countdown now, and every single day is critical. Tuesday we finalized a few social events, including a luncheon My Beloved Sister and I are hosting for our female cousins who live in town, a night out to see wacky Christmas lights with our neighbors, and responding to a couple of parties we will be attending.

The den and living room trees are up, but are not completely decorated. To put the trees up requires moving furniture, lamps and all related doo dads. To make way for the den tree, one of the sofa end tables has to move. This year We moved it into the dining room and now I have to make it look intentional rather than just a place holder. This side table also houses a lot of our games, which meant I was going to have to find another place for them until a had a eureka moment.

The table has a top with a drawer that still holds decks of cards and small games, but the larger games (none of these are board games) live on the shelf underneath the drawer. Instead of rehoming them for the season, I wrapped them and now it looks like I have a few gifts stored there.* Nothing like hiding in plain sight, and now I don't have to remember where I put them.

Another hide in plain sight also happened in the den. By the side table a large basket holds books, some very large and some regular hardback size. It weighs a ton, is hard to move, and I wanted to keep it as close to where it normally lives as possible.

I put all the large books flat on the bottom of the basket and placed the standard size books on top of them (flat also). Then I covered the books with  Christmas fabric hiding them, and placed smaller wrapped gifts on top of them. Now it looks like a basket filled with presents, which sits just to the right of the tree.

The living room requires a little movement for the tree to fit in the room, but it is nothing like the den, thanks goodness. The dining room is the recipient of the fig tree, which means the armchair in the dining room has to move. I have not decided where it will be placed, but right now it is just tucked away until I get the tree finished. Some decisions can wait.

I have high hopes for tomorrow!

*I never throw anything out and had 2 rolls of really cheap Christmas paper I have had for years. It did not upset me at all to use it to wrap the games. The only thing really upsetting about it, is that there is still very much left on both rolls!

Oh no just 4 weeks till Christmas

This past week I had plans to do little for and about Christmas concentrating on family time. After a red eye flight, we got home Monday morning at about 9:45. Now Christmas starts with a flourish (well after I finish the laundry). So much to do today, I need to quit typing this and get running!

I did a little bit of Christmas decorating on Monday and then we left for Portland.

Once there TheHub and I ran to Dollar Tree to grab a few gift bags I forgot to pack, to hold the gifts I did remember to pack. I did buy some cool tissue paper to stuff in the tops of the gift bags.

And other than riding around looking at some lights and delivering the wrapped gifts I could fit in my suitcase, that was it for anything Christmas. Instead we enjoyed Thanksgiving week with the Portland crew. While there, I did keep my listening ears open and managed to pick up a few hints for possible gift giving

And since it is officially December 1, I am aiming to post a Christmas tune every day

Thanksgiving is in the books

24 Days till Christmas

Ho, Ho, How fast can the next three weeks fly?