We barely had our turkey dinner under our expanding belts when my daughter, Jenna, started hauling out my Christmas decorations. Our plan was to have a nice dinner and then put up the decorations....oh, how festive. What was I thinking?
My girlfriend, Carole, sat in stunned amazement at the collection of decorations I've managed to amass over the years. "I don't remember seeing half of this stuff. When did you get all this? It's like walking into a Hallmark store."
Yeah, Hallmark and I have been in direct competition for years now. I venture to say, I could give them a run for their money. The difference is, they're making money with this stuff...and mostly off of me.
Ever since I can remember, I've had a "love/hate" relationship with ALL of the holidays, with Christmas being the worst. I just can't seem to say NO. I've thought, when I die, who's going to want to be saddled with all of my obsessive purchases? Who's going to want to store them away and carry on the tradition when I'm gone? As much as my children LOVE when I decorate the house with all of my paraphernalia, not one of them would be looking forward to that task.
Jenna, who's VERY much like me when it comes to decorating for holidays, doesn't have a spare inch in her apartment for another thing. Joe, my son, doesn't decorate...It's a guy thing. But, let me forget even ONE thing that he's used to seeing at my place, and believe me he notices it. "Hey, where's that Christmas calendar you used to hang here?" OR "Mom, you ARE going to hang my Xmas stocking, aren't you?" Then there's my two minimalist daughters, Julie and Jory. I think...NO, I'm positive, most of whatever decorations they may have probably came from me. As a matter of fact, I've got two boxes just waiting to go to the post office with a bunch of "goodies" inside to make their homes more festive for the holidays. I can't help it....IT'S A CURSE!
As Jenna kept coming out with more and more decorations from the room I store them in, I became more and more overwhelmed. I wasn't even sure I wanted to get started. But, once they were all staring me in the face...I had no choice. OH, my aching body!! Just a prediction. Why did I get up so early Thanksgiving morning? Didn't I know I'd need any extra rest I could muster for this project? Normally, and I'm not sure how normal it is, we've waited at least until the day after T-day to decorate. It seemed like a good idea at the time when Jenna suggested that we do it early because it was just going to be the two of us all day. My friend joined us after some urging to get out and come join us. She said she was so glad that she did; but now I wonder. Her head was spinning and she came disasterously close to getting whiplash straining to see everything. I could see she was exhausted just watching. She left early to leave us to our fun and games....COWARD!
We managed to find a place for EVERYTHING...always a challenge that gets worse each year. Well, almost everything. I still have a wreath and a quilted "Jolly" sign that have no home yet. All in good time.
Next is the tree. That's today, when Jen will make a return engagement and Joe is available to help. The tree has become Joe's Christmas chore...but, he doesn't seem to mind. The only thing I should ban him from (and I think he's secretly counting on it) is actually decorating the tree. He doesn't have the eye...or the patience, that Jenna has for finding just the right spot for ALL of my ornaments. Another one of my obsessions....ORNAMENTS! All kinds...many handmade. My only criteria is that they are either really beautiful...or adorably cute; and anywhere in the middle. I'm sure you can see my problem. I can't blame Joe....honestly; but Jen understands. We have a lot of laughs every year with my tree....mostly at my expense. But hey, whatever it takes.
When we're done, noone loves to sit and bask in the glory more than my kids. Our own "mini" winter wonderland. And all it took was two hesitantly willing volunteers, a couple of tiring days, and ONE aching back. Well worth the tradeoff. 
Wonderful. I bet it looks glorious. I won't let myself get out the Christmas mugs or play the Christmas music until after my husband's birthday on 1st December - not long now.
I do love Christmas!
Posted by: Liz | November 24, 2006 at 10:50 AM
Amazingly, my mother's pack-rat-edness has never really played itself in holiday decorations. At least that's one less thing she'll be passing on to us. ;) I'm trying to get used to real trees again. For 6 Xmases in the tropics, we used a fake tree...and I got very used to hauling it out on an early Dec. weekend while J was playing golf...he'd come home and voila! A tree! Now we're back to the whole 'remembering to water the tree' thing...and although it smells nice, I'd just as soon have my fake tree back. :)
Posted by: Marilyn | November 24, 2006 at 10:59 AM
Glad I was not there for the after-dinner festivities. The holiday decorations are some people's bag. Not mine. I'm perfectly satisfied with a small wreath and a Christmas candle. Unfortunately, the women in my life at any given moment do not concur. So I find some excuse to vanish for a while... I will get the boxes down from the attic, and that's about it.
Sorry to blow any idea you had about me being perfect... ;-)
Posted by: Winston | November 24, 2006 at 12:20 PM
Joy,
You got a head start on me!! NOW- I'm wanting to get started with my decorating!
Junie
Posted by: junie | November 24, 2006 at 12:22 PM
Oh, gee, that whole tree thing was today?
Posted by: SonJoe | November 24, 2006 at 12:35 PM
Dear Joy ~ I am glad you had a pleasant Thanksgiving, and that your daughter helped you decorate for Christmas. I hope your son helped with the tree and you will be all set. Thanks for your comments, Joy.
Do take care, Love, Merle.
Posted by: Merle | November 25, 2006 at 07:01 AM
Joy, this is fun! It has made me want to go right into our storage closet and haul out our Christmas decorations. I wasn't sure what to do with my day (after grading of course) - and now I know! And why not spread joy around ... the sooner the better.
Hurrah! Merry days ahead!
Posted by: tamarika | November 26, 2006 at 06:43 AM
Well, I feel I have been shamed...
What possible competition can I put forth with my single Christmas wreath on the front door?
Just teasing...not shamed at all! It is always nice to enjoy the fruits of labor from those who enjoy the season with such decorating fervor.
Posted by: Alan G | November 26, 2006 at 09:57 AM
Joy, I enjoyed the story of your love, hate relationship with Christmas and the decorations.
I am also somewhat like that myself but with the 4 grandchildren who live nearby if I didn't at least put up a tree with all the ornament's I have collected through the years they would be disappointed.
Posted by: Chancy | November 26, 2006 at 02:34 PM
This is the first year that we've put a decoration on the tree that JJ made. Hopefully there will be more to come.
Now, who helps you take them all down?
Posted by: jen | November 26, 2006 at 05:00 PM
Joy--A dear friend of 40+ years has the same bug from which you suffer. She whines and complains about having to go out to decorate houses and offices; but, she is really an overly-abundant decorator. (She threatens to come to my house to decorate just to see me cringe!) Yesterday, after eschewing decorating for 28 of the past 30 years, I bit the bullet and took all but two decorative items to our elder daughter. Let the box gather dust at her house! *fiendish laughing*
Posted by: Cop Car | November 28, 2006 at 01:58 PM
Sounds delightful. I put up the Christmas things before the kids came for Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday to make the house look festive. I don't have Thanksgiving decorations.. no Halloween either; so Christmas is all that changes with a holiday and it's quite a bit-- Christmas Village, Santa Village, many angels, candles, Nativity and Advent Wreathe. We don't do a tree; so the greens are holly and fir that gets placed on mantle and around the house. I am minimalist for decorating and it doesn't take long before I have had enough of all the things everywhere. It will be lucky to last past Christmas Day. But since nobody comes here for Christmas. We go to their houses. It was good to get to share it.
Posted by: Rain | November 28, 2006 at 02:20 PM
The ornaments on our Christmas Tree have all been made by my wife's college friends. They have a tradition of sending each other a new ornament every year. This is a dedicated group of women. Each ornament has a story, and a year, to remember. Lori pulls them out each year very slowly, one by one, to put them on our tree. The way she looks at EACH of these ornaments, lets me know she is looking at the love of each of her friends. This helps me stay patient with the whole process. I think every family has wonderful moments of tradition that occur at this time of year, no matter what religious faith is being celebrated. December is a very special moment for all religions, and special for those who do not have a religion. It is a great time to see our commonalities, instead of our differences. Our world needs this month. Much love Joy!
Posted by: Bob Patterson | December 01, 2006 at 10:41 AM