How Many Days 'till Christmas?

We always thought, once the boys grew up, that we'd nail this holiday thing and have Christmas wrapped and ready by Thanksgiving and spend the month of December checking out holiday offerings at wineries and touring historic homes, all decked out for the season!

As of yesterday, here's our tree!

As you can see, we cut it down ourselves.  As you can also see, it fell of the car on the way home from the tree farm.  Somehow, the seventeen feet of rope I used, and the knots I learned in Boy Scouts, didn't make one bit of difference regarding the delivery.

You'll also notice that we don't have any snow.  The hopes of a white Christmas are in the hands of the weatherman.  At least it wasn't muddy curb-side, so I could just drag the holiday icon up the drive to the house.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get to that.

Homemade Christmas cookies are a tradition at our house and, as I usually make scores of them, I did think to buy the ingredients.  I put together about two dozen eggs, five pounds of butter, a couple of bottles of vanilla, and a nice bottle of Shiraz to get the project going...the Shiraz is to fortify me.

Of course, with work and chores around the house, including the now-flickering lights I strung on the front of the house which means a trip to the hardware store to replace the fixture so we can enjoy the aforementioned lights, I didn't get to far with the cookies.

Here's a picture of where they are now:

Last year, I made 72 dozen cookies and my son helped decorate them.

As you can see, I've only mixed a bit of what I intended to and just now am remembering that I didn't buy anything for decorations.

I'll get around to it soon, but first we have to get those Christmas cards going, as many have to be mailed to get to out of state addresses and with today being the busiest day of the United States Postal Service, if I don't hurry, I may get them there just as the postal clerks decide that it's time for their coffee break.

We did buy the cards and the stamps.  And, we have all sorts of address labels that we collect from about thirty different charities during the year.  Some have my name, some my wife's.  Once, a relative got a card from us with the wife label. Her first thought was that we divorced, as only her name appeared on the return address section.  My wife says it will take a lot more than the price of a postage stamp for me to get single again!

I'm guessing you want to see how far along I am with the cards...here they are:

As I look at them, I'm guessing I should try to find the envelopes..I know that they came with them. Of course, I also need our address book...we work very hard to keep that in shape so that we have every one's address right at our fingertips.  It's in this pile somewhere....

Right after I get all of that done, I'll start some shopping and then get down to the task of wrapping everything.  Note to self: hope wrapping paper isn't with the address book.

Maybe when the kids were small we had to get things done in a more timely fashion, as there were school concerts, and holiday parties for the Scouts, and church and family visits, and kids getting sick just before you head out the door.  These days we don't have all of that stuff and we probably think we got all that time back and can wait until closer to the holiday to start.  Strange thing...doesn't work.

Well, one more week to go and I'm sure we'll pull off a Christmas miracle...by actually having Christmas ready for Christmas.  I'll keep you posted over the next six days on how this goes...just checked, I did manage to remember to lay in some refreshments for the holiday and to provide me support as I gear up for the fest....


Now, where did I put that corkscrew???

Christmas Past

I came across my Christmas newsletter from last year and thought I would share it with my blog readers.

There are several blog posts in the works, regarding the holiday season, that I'll share with you over the next few days.  However, to finish those and start this year's family newsletter, I am doing some very heavy research. 

Actually, my wife said I had to "get this place decorated, please, sometime before the holiday!" 

Along with awaiting the arrival of family for the annual Christmas Tree hunt...no shots have been fired, to date, but I'm sure I'll have something to write regarding that adventure soon...today, I'll be in the depths of the basement and the freezing environs of the outdoor shed searching for all the stuff I put away last year...where I stashed it so I knew I could find it (yeah, right!).

Here's Christmas 2009:

My therapist told me that it would be a good thing, this year, if I could take the time to envelop myself in the spirit of Christmas, relax and enjoy the holiday, and take comfort in the simply pleasant things of the season, giving and sharing as I went along. “Create and enjoy the holiday!”
 

What first? Decorations! Create the feeling of the season. We had pulled back a bit last year, but I stepped up to the plate and pulled everything out of the basement. All twenty two boxes. I was prepared for the effort. The crawl space we call a basement is rife with spiders and cobwebs, but I revved up for the challenge. 

What I wasn't prepared for were the mice that had taken up residence in the imported Swiss manger. I guess they took comfort in the hay and straw that made up the manger roof, and got some sort of nutrition by eating half of baby Jesus. The three kings appeared less royal, now that their clothes had seemingly been reworked into some sort of nest at the bottom of the box, and I'm guessing that the bed of ceramic dust was once the hopeful and happy shepherds! 

Oh well, not going to let this get me down,. Fortunately as I don't throw many things away, we have six other manger sets...onto the lights. Deep breath. Okay, three deep breaths.

The big box of lights. I opened it to find string upon string, that I am sure I put away one at a time, carefully wrapped individually, and all working when they went to sleep last time they were used, are now an intertwined mess of knots and snarls. Seemingly a Medusa shaped, moving mass of uncooperative lines, they appeared to get more involved with as I tried to free one from the other. 

After about three hours of pulling each string out, and lining them up for inspection, not a one would light. Pulling each bulb out and putting in a new one, with not a one responding, I figured it would be more in the spirit of the season if I gave them to the recycling center and gave more money to our country's retail effort. I only had to take one Lexapro after this, not bad. 

Not giving in to what others might see as a failure, I chalked the lights up to “maintaining the faith” and set off to find our tree, on which I would put all of the treasured ornaments we'd saved for over 25 years. 
 

No doubt, I've told you of our tree adventures before, but I wasn't going to think once about our “history.” The standing in the rain, the trudging of the hills for hours, or having one tree after another die on us within a week. Not going to dwell on the past. No, we had a plan. 

Outside our house, too close to it in fact, was a fine fir tree that had to come down and we elected to cut this one down to take off the top for our tree. The fact that it was thirty feet tall and we couldn't get a good eye on the top didn't stop us. Saw in hand, I took to the trunk and dropped that baby after twenty or thirty good swiping cuts. 

What I neglected to judge was that the height exceeded the space between the chosen place for it to drop to and the house. As I told my wife, that's why they sell glass for windows in hardware stores. Never mind the fact that I don't know how to put glass into a window, but is is available.  

After my call to my therapist, and one short hour of 'coming down,' I was back in the game.

It wasn't as big a deal getting the tree into the house as my wife might tell you (she can get very strident when branches are banging into furniture and knocking pictures and knick knacks off the wall). 

Within five hours I had that baby standing up (semi-straight) and the brand new lights were setting off against it really fine. I grabbed the three boxes marked ornaments and were surprised how light they were...figured all of this hefting had me putting on some muscle. 

It was only after I opened them that I remembered the crash of '07. Totally not similar to our current economic crashes, these were the two times the tree fell over in 2007 and demolished all of the good ornaments and collectibles we had. 

Another rush of giving came over me and I headed off to the store to give over more cash to buy new memories. They come in six packs, too. I know not to mix alcohol with my meds, so I try to rotate them...pills on the hour, alcohol on the half hour.

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas...not sure if it was the twinkling lights, the reflection off the new plastic ornaments, the swaying of tree branches (I'm sure I screwed that tree tight into the holder), the combination of Maker's Mark and Xanax, or the after effects of rum laden Egg Nog and Anafranil. 

Anyway, I was doing whatever I could to keep my spirits high. I'm sure it was a unseen broken step on the ladder, and not the mixing of Vodka and Halcion, that produced my fall. 

Fortunately, I landed in the tree and it cushioned the blow as we both went over. The miracle? Not a light went out, not an ornament was broken, and even though I was flat on my face in pine needles, my spirits were high.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a really good night. 

And, I can give you the name and number of my therapist if you need it to make your holidays truly memorable...and when you see Santa, please tell him that refills for me would be nice.

Sidewalks and Sights of the Holidays!

I enjoy walking busy city sidewalks during the Christmas holiday season.  Lots of lights and decorations to look at, there are many decorated store fronts, people seem happier, and I enjoy the quick pace of things. 

Unlike life in the country, where the pace pretty much keeps a slow beat and when it snows even a little bit the pace can become a crawl, the busy-ness of a city seems to add excitement to shopping and sight-seeing.  Add a little music from store fronts or at outside venues and you could almost say that all you need for the holidays is a trip to the city.  For me, it can be a complete holiday experience.

I will admit that there are decorations and sites to view out here in the sub-suburban areas that you'll see as you're driving around, but you'll want to do that at night when everything is lit up.

However, be sure not to stop in front of houses too long or try to peer in to see what's going on in the house.  I hear there are"peeping" laws, and people in the country get nervous when cars slow down and creep by their house.

Unlike a store front where the proprietor is hoping that their decorations will draw you in, folks in the country will take pictures of your license plate, call neighbors to see if they have seen your car and report, to anyone, this "strange" activity. For weeks, they'll peer frantically outside their windows to see if you return!  The talk at the local diner might very well be,"Yeah, a blue car went by my house, real slow, too.  I don't know anyone with a blue car, do you?"

Once, a friend of ours turned around in a nearby driveway to head back in the direction of their house.  As they headed home, they found that a strange car following them.  It was the homeowner of the driveway they turned around in wanting to know why they pulled into their place!  You'll want to move quickly by...and know that the blur of the lights as you're speeding by can be as dazzling as a long stare.

There are people who like to decorate the outside of their houses for the holiday.  When you live far away from neighbors who may be decorating, it's not easy for you to see their designs, without getting in the car, again, to check them out.  When you decorate your own house, three acres back from the road on your seventy acre spread in the hinterlands, about the only thing you can see is the reflection on the snow of all of those money burning lights.  You have to remember you're doing it for yourselves.

One year, realizing that I was going to all of the effort to decorate so that we could go out and stand in the freezing cold to look back at the house, I decided to decorate an outbuilding on the property of place we rented just across the drive, rather than our house, so that when we looked out of our windows we saw a completely decorated edifice!  No more dragging everyone out to take in the views! My wife thought it was genius (that occurs very, very infrequently) and the kids appreciated not having to stand in snowbanks, in their pajamas, because their mother said, "You have to come out here and see the beautiful decorations!"

Another thing you won't see, as we don't have sidewalks out in our realm, is the Salvation Army bell ringer!

Those people do a great job, collecting money to help other people in all sorts of situations, and have come to be a part of the holiday scene.

Growing up,  sometimes I would drop change in the kettle if I had any, but these days I'm compelled to.  You see, now it's a family thing.

Pictured at the top of this post is my wife's Great-Aunt, Anna McNulty.  Born in the latter 1800's, she was involved with the Salvation Army and was known in Binghamton, New York as a generous person, giving  time and money to people who needed it. We're researching the family tree to try to get more information about her, but the little that we have says alot about her...including comments from a prominent person in Binghamton who, at her funeral, told everyone that "she was a living saint."

Now, I know better than to make fun of saints.  Great-Aunt Anna has had a profound effect on us.  Each time we see the Salvation Army kettle anywhere, we think of her.  We can't pass it by without throwing in whatever we can and tossing a "this is for you, Aunt Anna" to the universe.  My wife will repeat, when she sees the kettle, "You know, Aunt Anna!"   And, at times, we've noted during shopping trips that we haven't seen the familiar sight with the assigned bell ringer.  We actually miss seeing them.
 
When I was thinking about monetizing my blog, remember I just took a class on blogging and that's part of the process, I was doing so with the intent of producing some income (many do).  However, with the holidays approaching, I thought I'd start practicing by trying to make some money for people who need it more.

So, on the top side here, my Salvation Army kettle.  This way I can be a "bell-ringer" out in the boondocks, without a sidewalk.  Don't feel compelled to donate...many are most likely doing your own thing.  However, if you do, rest assured that Great-Aunt Anna would think you're a living saint!

Along with reading all of this, I am asking is that you leave a comment about why sharing is good.  (Just hit the comment button).  In an upcoming holiday blog, I'll put together the top ten reasons why sharing is good, based on what feedback you provide!  That way we'll all be a part of talking about good things and sharing warm holiday feelings, and that's saintly, too!

Should you want to know more of what the Salvation Army is up to, here's their link:

http://salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf


My brush with sainthood?  I once thought that someone saw me as a saint.  Back in my hometown there was a family nearby whose mother was of Russian descent.  She had then what we know now to be Alzheimer's and she only spoke Russian.  In those days, I had a beard and each time I'd visit the house, and got to walk on a sidewalk to get there (why did I move out of town?), the woman would do a "sign of the cross" in front of her and say a few words in Russian.  I asked her daughter why she'd do that each time I showed up. She said, "She thinks you're a monk from the monastery...the beard, you know...and she's saying a prayer because you're here!"  And I thought she saw my halo...oh well...almost saintly in someone's eyes, at one time.

Now that you've read this, also let me know about your "of the season" sidewalk experiences this December.  Yes, hit the comment button!  And best wishes for all of the "bells" and whistles of the season for you and yours...Happy Holidays!!!