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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Tis the Season — Are You Ready?

christmas prep collageStores around here and in so many places have been ready for Christmas since about a minute past Halloween celebrations, bypassing the Thanksgiving holiday entirely.  We’re not dating ourselves (of course), but remember when Christmas preparations didn’t start until after Thanksgiving. Now, they display earlier each year. Soon, we expect to see holiday trimmings interspersed with shorts, t-shirts, and swimwear.

Far fetched thinking — hardly as this year, many retailers started Thanksgiving night sales which attracted lots of shoppers.

Not us — we’re not gift buying for ourselves. Yes, we shop for the grandkids, but not crazily. Other family members are also on our list, as are selected charities and local organizations.

IMG_6493Our tree is up and decorated. This year it’s an artificial one, which is a change as we’ve always had a “real” tree, but we may be travelling  before or right after Christmas, so this one can remain until we return home. It was graciously donated by new neighbors when they heard we were planning to buy a small one. They already had a tree and found this one after moving in. It came with white lights; we added a string of multi-colored lights, some of our (many) decorations, and topped it with a small angel ornament as our 2 angel tree toppers were too large. We also set up a small nativity.

holiday filmsHoliday music is playing non-stop in our home. Several Many pine-scented candles are lit nightly as we watch holiday movies from our collection; see any of your favorites here ? Yesterday, Grenville baked chocolate chip cookies for the Santa Train visit to Onley (more on that later). This week, I start writing holiday cards with personal messages inside. Sure, it’s time consuming and postage costs keep rising, but this is my seasonal extravagance and one that is really enjoyable on a personal level.

We will NOT be shopping at any malls — closest ones are 45 minutes either north or south. We avoided Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales AND we don’t regret missing those “great” deals.

What are YOU doing to prepare for the holiday, if observed ?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely tree! I mailed Christmas cards today. We don't Christmas shop for one another either. We stay far away from shopping malls and crowds!!!!! Wishing you both a nice weekend.

Anvilcloud said...

We went with artificial trees very early on for the same reason that you do so now. Our present tree is tiny and pre-lit. Works for us.

Cicero Sings said...

I live in a small town and thereby by-pass most of the hype. There simply aren't many places to shop! Mostly people are getting my cook book this year but I still have a few to get a little something for ... it will mostly be gift certificates or other home made things like jams and cookies.

john bain said...

I'm not doing anything until a few days before Christmas. I don't like crowds and the shops will be crowded for the next few weeks.
I do like Christmas though.

Montanagirl said...

Really pretty tree! Today I put up my Nativity set, and two little pre-lit trees on either side of the china cabinet...haven't done much else yet. Our lighted wreath is hung up outside our front door waiting for hubs to get a timer and extension cord so we can plug it in.

Anonymous said...

That tree looks very nice! Over here we almost only have white lights in our trees, very few have colored ones and I'm one of them. Not because I really wanted them but I just couldn't find any light-chains that small with white lights :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Doris said...

You are ahead of me...my pumpkins are on the porch, the Fall wreaths are hanging on the doors. I'll get to Christmas decorating this week, I hope. This past week found me busy at chuch doing some decorating and peparing for the annual brunch we have for the women.
I bought some gifts for the Grands (we buy them each 1 gift) and some for the girls that still live at home. Budget is tight... being together, that's what is important, making memories =)

Connie said...

You have a pretty tree! I've only just barely begun, but I'll get there. I like the idea of watching holiday movies each night--what fun!

Lois Evensen said...

We'll have a very extended holiday season. We are at sea until mid January so will celebrate when we get home with family. We'll go to Washington (probably) to celebrate a special birthday for our son and will take Christmas with us for all of them. Then, we'll have Christmas in February in Cincinnati. We've never extended it quite so far from the actual date before, but the kids usually like the whole concept. Who wouldn't want Christmas that extends for months!

Nice to be able to see your blog. Have a good week.

All the best,
Lois