Deck the Halls

Thanksgiving has passed and the house is now decorated for Christmas with the exception of the tree which is on the side of the house waiting for a stand to miraculously materialize.  I began the yuletide decorating on Black Friday while others were out looting and pillaging.  I didn’t get to decorate last year because the hall bathroom flooded and the house was a disaster.  We didn’t have a tree either which I believe was a first.  My son and my cousin got most of the bins down on Thanksgiving Day after I asked if they had heard of the “will work for food” concept.

Over the last forty years I have amassed at least eight bins of Christmas trimmings.  There are the many different stockings I have hung by the chimney with care for my son including First Christmas, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and for the last few years a sports-themed stocking.  I also have the ornaments I purchased each year for my son.  We have the handmade, the homemade and the school projects.  I have an assortment of items purchased at the Gifts and Gadgets parties I attended each year at my cousin’s house.    

Sadly I have no ornaments from my childhood.  One year when my mom and I went to retrieve the decorations from the basement of the home we lived in, they were gone.  What lowly thieves would steal someone’s Christmas memories?  We suspected the neighbors in the house behind us but had no proof.

The Christmas tree will find its place in the room that we added in 2004.  For some reason we have never been able to attach a name to that room.  I wanted to be grand and call it the solarium but that sounded pompous so I tried sunroom.  It has been referred to by others as the back room, the family room, the Martha Stewart room (because of the décor) and most commonly, the new room.

I bought all new decorations that year from the Martha Stewart collection at K-Mart.  It is kind of a woodsy theme with pine cones and hedge hogs, the colors a mossy green and burgundy.  Martha has since moved on to Macy’s leaving us regular folks behind to mourn her departure.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Macy’s.  I go there once a month after my hair appointment.  Unfortunately by the time I peruse the clothing I am too tired to check out anything else.

I have the urge to bake holiday treats but I am a Weight Watcher trying to lose weight for the umpteenth time.  My son works out and although he indulges himself with pizza and candy I don’t want to add temptation.  Of course I would share the baked goods with family and friends, I just don’t know if I want to torture myself in the process.

Hope you and yours have a great holiday.