Decorating for Christmas

I had a lovely Thanksgiving day with my family. Really, truly, it was wonderful.

It was a bit 'iffy' as on Tuesday I got hit with a bug of some sort which left me not wanting to eat much on Thursday. I feasted on potatoes, squash and dark turkey meat. Skipping over my other favorite foods did not hurt me one bit. As much as I am thankful for food, being with family is a much higher priority for me.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving I stayed home all day. Most of the day I spent dragging up decorations. Decorating is SO much easier when done alone, but not nearly as much fun. I even sat at the piano and played through a bunch of my favorite Christmas music.

We still haven't decided which tree to put in the living room. There was something strange going on with our tree last year, but neither THGGM nor I can remember just what that was. Lights out? Broken branches? Too big? It was something that we wouldn't be able to tell unless we put it up, and to put it up just to have to take it down again seems way to daunting a task. So, we shall go with a smaller tree, and have more room in the living room and maybe - just maybe - put the big tree in the basement.

The basement. Presently it looks like Santa's workshop after a riot. I'm not a neat sewer, crafter, decorator. If I do not know what to do with something, I put it in the basement. It's a big basement and there are three rooms that effect no one but me, but, still. A mess is a mess. January. I'm thinking, January.

I'm putting to good use many of the things I've been finding at thrift stores. I made number tags from one to twenty-four to use as an advent calendar. I stamped the numbers on the back of some nicely worn flash cards. Now, I only need 48 tiny pieces of candy for Jonge and Famke.

By now I have made up for missing much of Thanksgiving dinner. The pumpkin rolls and pecan pies are gone. I still have ham, turkey and stuffing left.

And, Friday is St. Nicholas Eve, at which time we will celebrate like all good Dutch children do by putting out our shoes to have them filled with candy. Assuming, that is, that we were indeed good this year.