Getting ready for Christmas

[pegkerr]

I feel cautiously optimistic about the progress I have made this weekend. I got about fifty holiday cards in the mail, about 1/3 of the total. I am not writing personal notes this year, just shoving the picture and newsletter in the mail. Through sheer dumb luck I hit on a great gift idea for my husband's sister's family, the name we'd drawn this year, and I made arrangments to have the gift shipped directly via Amazon.

Last night, I told the girls to test the lights so we could decorate the Christmas tree, and we ran into a snag: all three light strings were broken. I had to go to four stores, and I got to feeling more and more bah humbugish before I found replacements. I put in Peter Mayer's Midwinter and listened to "Where is the Light":

I'm burning bright like kerosine (where is the light?)
I'm twinkling like the Pleiades (where is the light?)
I'm dancing like a candle flame (where is the light?)
I'm flaming like a fruit flambé (where is the light?)

and that cheered me up again. When I got home, I discovered that the girls had lit candles all over the house to get us into a festive mood. It worked.

After dinner, we decorated the tree. We have been playing Christmas music, which has been getting me in the mood, too. I have most of the presents ready for the girls, and Rob will start wrapping them early (this is progress; there have been some years we haven't started wrapping until Christmas Eve, which is awful).

Comments

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

We decorated our tree yesterday too. We had three strings of lights purchased last year, and not one of them worked. Had to go back to the old ones. It was weird.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

Speaking of lights, have you seen the outdoor display at 41st Ave and 32nd St? It's incredible!

[sternel.livejournal.com]

I'm just commenting to share this icon. It's a shot I took two weeks ago of the tree at Rockerfeller Center, and I thought it might contribute to the Christmas-spirit-building. =)

[aome.livejournal.com]

I got about fifty holiday cards in the mail, about 1/3 of the total.

Holy COW! I've been feeling rather disgruntled at how few (virtually none) of the cards we've received that have had personal notes inside, but you are definitely excused, given the volume you have to deal with. I thought our list was bad, at around 60 (not including immediate family).