In The Mood

For the first time, ever, we have managed to put up our Christmas tree at the same time that most other people do it, rather than one week before Christmas. While I do truly loathe Christmas music that isn't Handel's Messiah or Pachabel's Canon, and all Christmas movies besides "Love Actually", I'm not a total Grinch. I really love decorated Christmas trees. I love sitting in my living room doing-whatever-and having the lights sparkling up the dark. I love the smell of them too. I love pulling out the old ornaments, especially the ones Max has made himself, and hanging them up.

We don't do an elegant tree or themed tree (though we did notice that there's an unintentional but unsurprising food theme on our tree) nor do we do a particular color story. The tree is a free for all. Maybe some day I will get two trees, one for the family and one just for me to do up in whatever quirky way I please, though it seems awfully excessive. I realized when Max was in preschool bringing home his first funny little hand made ornaments that you can't have a themed tree if you have a kid. You can't go all Martha on the tree because then you would have to exclude these little foil and glittered stars, or the funky traffic cone orange "foamie" gingerbread cutouts liberally and creatively smeared with glitter glue.

In our house the tree isn't an expression of our decorating style so much as it is a collection of Christmases past. Made more poignant by the fact that we had to start all over a few years ago after our attic fire destroyed all of our previous and very thoughtfully collected assortment of ornaments. I would love to collect vintage ornaments and perhaps I will start that next year.

Today we are having a couple of kids over all day long. What to with three kids for an eight or nine hour stretch? Well, I have more sewing to do than I can even allow my brain to comprehend so mostly it will be Philip watching them. He's done it before and is actually quite good at dealing with them, though at the end of it he will have dark circles under his glazed eyes, his skin will be a pale shade of grey, and he will no longer be capable of speech since he will have given himself a lobotomy by 3pm. I've decided to let them make gingerbread houses. This is a huge endeavor and I am wishing right now I hadn't set this idiotic ball in motion. However, the second I get done with this post I am going to shower and then make the dough which will then have to chill.

Then we have to bake the darn things. Then I think we'll have to construct them ourselves and let them set before handing them over to the kids to decorate. I suspect it's going to be a bit of a nightmare. But hopefully all will be well because I know the kids will, at the very least, love eating some candy.

See? I'm not a Grinch even though I think Santa is stupid. We also got some big colorful festive Christmas lights hung on the eve of our house. See how cheery a people we are?! And we managed to get them up when the neighbors across the street did. The neighbors who do everything when you're supposed to and keep their lawn emerald green and minutely trimmed all year long.

I will, of course, shrivel up and die if anyone makes me watch "It's a Wonderful Life" though. As much as I love Jimmy Stewart, this is not his best film and why on earth would I waste time watching him get his ass kicked by life when I could watch "Rear Window" instead? Christmas movies are almost always sanctimonious vehicles for toting morals around in and the feel-good endings are not natural happy endings* as I would probably enjoy, but contrived and doused in fake magic (like elves and reindeer) and smeared with Velveeta smiles.

But no, really, you go ahead and enjoy them, OK? I'll just sit here in my dark corner and listen to Laibach's version of "Let It Be" over and over and over...

Oh, but back to the cheer... lots of cheer around here. I'm now avoiding ending this post so I don't have to go start this very long day. Which will be punctuated by a two hour working stint down at the Holiday Market where I have been listening to Christmas music for two and a half solid weeks.

So, have you all gotten in the mood yet? Incidentally, have any of you made your coffee liqueur yet? You need to get cracking on that right away! I still have the Farmer's Market tote tutorial to do but it will have to wait until a little bit later in the week.

Have a restful Sunday. If you can. You know, if you don't have any kids.

*But remember, I am a big fan of happy endings. It would seriously bum me out if Elizabeth didn't get Mr. Darcy at the end of "Pride and Prejudice". I just don't like my happy endings to be full of shmaltz and farting fuzz.