"Deck The Halls"

I thought that it would be appropriate to follow "Oh Christmas Tree" with this topic of decorating the halls of our homes for the most exciting time of year.

I don't know about you but for me Christmas is my favorite time. It is the time when I get the warm fuzzies and my emotional side tends to show up. I work hard to get the atmosphere just right. I have my little villages that I set up and different ornaments that help to give that feeling of kicking back and sinking into a stress free time of the year.

Here is the funny part of that last statement. "Stress free". The actual days of Christmas break are mostly stress free for me but the decking of the halls are not. I must say that this year it has gone well so far but it hasn't always been that way.

Most families have their traditions around decorating the Christmas Tree. Well, so do we. Ours has always been a family thing. We decorate the tree on the Sunday as close to the beginning of Dec. that will fit our schedule. When the kids were home we would go out and pick out our tree from the tree lot. (No traipsing through the forest for us. We did try that one year and found that we didn't like the cold that much, besides we also don't have an eye for sizing.) It would then unthaw for a couple of days and when that next available day hit we would decorate in the late afternoon, early evening. We then topped the evening off by watching the old Alastair Sim movie "A Christmas Carol". That was a family tradition. The decking of the tree was always interesting. Hubby would put the star and lights on first, then the kids and I would join in with the decorations. The finishing touch to the tree was the tinsel. Hubby would insist that it be put on one strand at a time. (What he doesn't know is that I would do the back of the tree and speed up the process up by increasing the numbers, moving around the tree as he moved so that we were always opposite.) Anyway, when it was done we would stand back turn off all the lights and admire our handy work. The joke for the rest of the season was that Mom was always poking in the tree and fixing things.

For a number of years now we have been without kids. They all grew up and left us so now the tradition is left to, you guessed it, Hubby and I. As a matter of fact it is mostly I. Somehow as the years have progressed I've become a little pickier about how the tree looks.

Last year it took me about 6 hrs. to get the 400 or so lights just right. It started out with Hubby and I doing it together and when he got frustrated with me fixing his efforts, he gave up. I was working away, grumbling about how I don't like putting on lights when I realized that I was alone and there on the couch was Hubby sound asleep. That does absolutely nothing for the warm fuzzies. Well, we did get the job done and that tree was absolutely beautiful. What we came to realize was that although we think that doing the tree is a special tradition we have changed with our tastes on what is acceptable for a tree to look like. I a little pickier and Hubby a little more relaxed. That adds a little more tension to the process, thus making the heart warming feelings a little less visible.

This is the reason that I was out looking for the perfect tree this year. One that was artificial, full enough to not see through, and had lights already in it. It worked, and you will be pleased to know that the decking of the tree this year was much more fun and alot less stressful because the lights were not an issue.

I am almost done creating the "Christmas Cheer" inside the house. All that is left is the downstairs tree in the family room. One job that I tackle by myself because Hubby thinks that one tree is enough of the warm fuzzies. It's all he can take each year. I, on the other hand, feel like I need a decorated tree in the family room because we spend so much of our time there. I love the feel that colored lights on a tree give the room.

So, I will go about my merry way and continue to "Deck the halls......." and attempt to get just the right atmosphere so that for a few days it will feel like Christmas, and when it is all over will be glad that I took the time.

I sure hope that you are having fun decking your halls and creating "Christmas Cheer" in your homes.