Christmas Downer

We all know the feeling of anticipation that builds as Christmas get closer and we all know the let down after Christmas. It is not that our Christmas wasn’t all we wished for, but the fact that it is over and we are left with returning to our regular lives.

The house is empty as all the kids and their families have gone to their own places and the presents are all gone from under the tree. Decorations are slowly being packed away for another year and we are left with putting everything back to normal.

I usually pack everything except the tree away before the new year but that isn’t happening this year.  I got hit with sinus problems about two-week before Christmas which made things a bit stressful before Christmas. Then on Sunday morning, after Christmas, I got hit with the stomach bug that is going around town. The next three days were a bit of a burr and I missed a few events that were important to me, like a friend’s funeral, but I am finally starting to feel more normal. Today was my first day out and I made my much-needed hair appointment. It is amazing how getting your hair cut and washed by someone else can make you feel – thank you Christy!

The decorations that have been taken down are piled on the dinning room table because the basement is flooded (it seems it has been raining the whole time I was sleeping). I never got prepared so I will not only have to disinfect the floor but also wash the few throw rugs that are down there. The good thing is that the water level is very low this time and the plastic tubs on the floor have not tipped over which will help with the clean up. I usually place the floor tubs on top the table when I expect the basement to flood.

One way to beat the after Christmas downers is to continue the celebration by decorating for Mardi Gras!. Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, February 9, 2016.  The Epiphany, Jan. 6, marks the end of the Christmas season and is the deadline to put away the Christmas tree for many people. However, Jan. 6 is also known as Twelfth Night the start of the Carnival season and the time to swap out Christmas ornaments for Mardi Gras ones.

Changing the Christmas tree to a Mardi Gras tree is simple and some people use many of the Mardi Gras decorations for Christmas.

The main thing to remember is that the trees usually are decorated in Mardi Gars colors: gold, purple, and green. The lights can be any colors but white lights are nice. I do not mind a few red lights so I will just leave my regular Christmas lights on the tree.

Here is the fun part – you can use anything that relates to Mardi Gras on your tree. I use beads that we got during our Mardi Gras visits.

And lots of masks, both ones I got from New Orleans and homemade ones, in the correct colors.

 

Crosses of all types, bows, Fleur-de-lis all make great decorations. You can even order special decorations if you do not have a change to visit New Orleans or make your own. This is a great place to get ideas  for your tree.

Paper chains or feather boas make great garland for the tree.

And don’t forget the King Cakes!

If the weather is still keeping you indoor with cabin fever that Mardi Gras tree can easily be changed into an Easter tree. Easter is March 27, 2016. Of course I can’t do anything until the water goes out of our basement.

Now you have a reason to keep from putting that tree away for another three months.

Decorating for Christmas

I really did not feel like decorating for Christmas this year because of everything that has happened recently so we kept it rather simple this year.

I decided to unpack my mother’s Christmas houses and display them.

The Halloween witch has been on display for the last year. She reminds us all of my Aunt  so we named her Clara and she greets all who arrive with a tray of goodies. Last year we put a Santa costume on her. This year I am looking for a long red cape for her and  a red bonnet if I can find one.

 

Usually I add garland on the mantle but it was in rather bad shape so I just hang the stockings for now.

The tree is very simple this year as I just didn’t feel like unpacking all the ornaments, A few blue ornaments but mostly while snowmen, Santa’s, and angles with silver trim.

The stairway holds stocking that are usually filled with little gifts to hand guest during the season. This year I think they will hold gifts for the birds, snake and cats. Shoes stocking is hung by the fireplace with the rest of the family’s.

Outdoors I changed the orange lights for cool white which will stay up all year or at least until Halloween. The lights add a nice glow to the back porch and patio area.

I have a huge snowmen collection that I love but if I put them out it will be after the cold weather sets in and not before.

 

 

Christmas Cheer

Spreading Christmas cheer seems to get harder as I get older. Bill and I have been food shopping most of the day to fill the Christmas gift baskets for the First Baptist Church deacon’s project. We made three trips to the grocery store and a trip to the Seymour Evening Lions fruit sales.

The fruit looked so good that we ended up buying a few bags for ourselves.

We still need to pick up the hams and the rest of the milk before delivering the gifts.

These are some of the boxes that we worked on today.  We will drop the refrigerated foods into the boxes right before they go out the door.

This evening we attended the Seymour Evening Lions club Christmas party at Cupid’s Arrow. We needed to take two gifts so I quickly wrapped up the gifts and headed out the door.

We had a good time with good friends and I actually won a prize with my artistic abilities. We had to hold a piece of paper behind our backs and tear out a Christmas tree.  This was my winning tree.

Prize was a can of nuts and Peanut M&M’s. Two of my favorite treats!

We didn’t do bad with the gift exchange either Bill got another can of nuts and I got a musical Christmas moose.

We did manage to find time to pick up water and get the shelving material for the garage.

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Today’s challenge is to properly store silver items.

Black Friday Disease

I can remember when Black Friday was a single day of shopping. The deals were good and people were respectful of others. It seems to me that Black Friday has become almost like a disease that slowly spreads each year. It now starts on Thanksgiving day and runs the whole weekend and into Cyber Monday. People skip being with family so that they can camp in front of the store to get the “deals.” Do they not know that they are missing the real deal – spending time with their families.

As the years pass, the material things that they skipped Thanksgiving for will be forgotten and unfortunately many of the people that they love will have passed on. God has given you a limited number of minutes – it is our job to use them wisely.

We have found that you usually do not have to wait in line to get the deals. Doug loves to shop so if there is a big deal on something we really want, he and his Dad usually go after dinner and simply pick up a voucher without having to stand in line all day. True we have to go on-line and fill out the form and we do not walk out of the store with the item; however, we have always gotten the item of choice at the special price before Christmas.

This allows us to relax and enjoy family time on Thanksgiving day.

(Guess I should have Photoshop Chris into the picture because he was upstairs at the time these were taken,)

We usually put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night but the last few years we have waited until December 1. The family prefers to play games and talk around the dinning room table whenever they get together.  I guess putting up the tree is just too much work. So Shoes and I will get that job done this week when everyone has returned to their jobs. Shawn and Desiree have returned to their home and Doug will be heading back to his place on Sunday afternoon. Doug and I spent this afternoon watching football and I addressed the Christmas cards. I need to finish the yearly Christmas letter and print that off before sealing up the cards. Then off to mail them and do some Christmas shopping later in the week.

Our Christmas shopping list has slimmer down to a much smaller number since we have retired and the boys are grown. The boys have come to the point in their lives that they want money to pay bills more than a bunch of gifts. I am not sure if Christmas is cheaper this way  but it sure is easier and not as much of a hassle having to look for just the right action figure or game. We still do a little Christmas shopping but it is at our leisure and we can spend the time enjoying the decorations.  We no longer have co-workers to buy for   but usually buy for a needy child or family of our choice.

The down side is that the tree looks bare compared to when they were small and the opening of gifts only takes a few minutes.

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Continue filling out home inventory forms.