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ninanevermoreToday on my drive into work, I was thinking that I am more behind and disorganized this Christmas than any other that I can recall. My tree is only partially decorated, my gifts are only partially bought (and not a single one is wrapped), and my cards are only partially mailed (only as of today, since I ran out of stamps). All of my nerves are completely shot, though, so I guess that's one Christmas tradition of mine that I am have fulfilled early this year.
Jeff only just brought the tree down from the attic this week, so I blame him for its poor state of progress. I perfectly capable of putting up the lights and decorating the tree myself, but the attic above the garage is his domain. He is 6 feet tall and has long legs that can step around all that clutter. I am 5 feet tall and could easily get lost up there and perhaps perish. Not to mention the tree is much bigger than I am, and the only way I could think to get it down would be to drop it from the ceiling, which would risk damaging it or one of Jeff's garage projects below.
Delayed holiday decorating takes me back to my own childhood. When I was a kid, my parents bought a real tree every year and we never got it up sooner than a week before the big holiday. It always made me anxious, and everyday starting at the beginning of December I would ask them when we were getting a tree, lest they forgot to buy it and end up having to cancel Christmas for lack of a centerpiece for the living room. I was pretty sure that without a tree, there could be no presents, for what would we put them under?
Another of my parents' traditions was that gifts from Santa were not wrapped, only gifts from family members were. It looks like there are going to be a lot of gifts from Santa this year. I'm thinking that all of my gifts will be from him.
My 3-year-old son is the real Christmas junkie in the house, even more than his father. He has opinions about what decorations should go on the tree and what branches they should be hung on.
"Where do you want this to go on the tree?" I asked him last night. He had picked up a breakable ornament and allowing him the option of where to hang it would make him smile, whereas just taking it away from him would make him cry. I think that Christmas is just better without too many tears, not to mention the screaming hissy fit tantrums that a tired toddler is capable of throwing.
"Wite derw." (Right there)
I started to hang the ornament.
"No! No! Wite derw."
I moved the ornament one small branch over.
"There?"
"Yes."
"There. Doesn't that look nice?"
The next ornament I unwrapped was a small wooden biplane. As soon as my son saw it, he laid claim to it.
"Dat's mine."
"No it's not, it belongs to mommy. Go put it on the tree."
He took the plane and walked toward the tree, but then held it up and started to pretend to make it fly, pursing his lips and making engine sounds. Before the tiny plane got very far it hit some turbulence, went into a spiral and slowly started heading downward in the direction of the floor.
"Oh no!" my son cried, "I'm getting dizzy! Do something!" This plea inspired the pilot to correct the little plane and get it flying back toward the Christmas tree. Then the pilot defied the mommy control tower's instructions to land and instead of touching down on a bough, it flew in a wide circle around the Christmas tree a few of times before it went into another spiral and the same plea of dizziness was made again. Because of my husband, we have a lot of aviation-themed Christmas ornaments. At the rate things are going, it could be mid January before my tree gets decorated, since all of these little planes may need to take a test flight or two before going on the tree, and all the miniature pilots on hand seem to be cowboys who -- given half a chance -- will take off into the restricted airspace outside of the living room.
Like I said, things are running a bit behind this year. I figure that any Christmas card that reaches it's destination before Valentines Day is on time by my own personal standards (which are the lax ones of a chronic procrastinator). I'll try to get my gifts wrapped and to their intended recipients some time before summer. My side of the family is having its Christmas celebration on the 27th, which is fine by me because I have to work and will only have to be there for a few hours at the end of the day.
I know I'll get through this holiday season somehow. Then, just when I catch my breath, it will be this time of year again and I'll be in the same predicament.
Yikes, I'm dizzy. I guess I should do something, like maybe get started early next year (or at least on time). Somehow, I doubt that's going to happen, but it's always nice to have goals, isn't it? As it stands, all I really want for Christmas this year is a little more time to prepare for it.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Jeff only just brought the tree down from the attic this week, so I blame him for its poor state of progress. I perfectly capable of putting up the lights and decorating the tree myself, but the attic above the garage is his domain. He is 6 feet tall and has long legs that can step around all that clutter. I am 5 feet tall and could easily get lost up there and perhaps perish. Not to mention the tree is much bigger than I am, and the only way I could think to get it down would be to drop it from the ceiling, which would risk damaging it or one of Jeff's garage projects below.
Delayed holiday decorating takes me back to my own childhood. When I was a kid, my parents bought a real tree every year and we never got it up sooner than a week before the big holiday. It always made me anxious, and everyday starting at the beginning of December I would ask them when we were getting a tree, lest they forgot to buy it and end up having to cancel Christmas for lack of a centerpiece for the living room. I was pretty sure that without a tree, there could be no presents, for what would we put them under?
Another of my parents' traditions was that gifts from Santa were not wrapped, only gifts from family members were. It looks like there are going to be a lot of gifts from Santa this year. I'm thinking that all of my gifts will be from him.
My 3-year-old son is the real Christmas junkie in the house, even more than his father. He has opinions about what decorations should go on the tree and what branches they should be hung on.
"Where do you want this to go on the tree?" I asked him last night. He had picked up a breakable ornament and allowing him the option of where to hang it would make him smile, whereas just taking it away from him would make him cry. I think that Christmas is just better without too many tears, not to mention the screaming hissy fit tantrums that a tired toddler is capable of throwing.
"Wite derw." (Right there)
I started to hang the ornament.
"No! No! Wite derw."
I moved the ornament one small branch over.
"There?"
"Yes."
"There. Doesn't that look nice?"
The next ornament I unwrapped was a small wooden biplane. As soon as my son saw it, he laid claim to it.
"Dat's mine."
"No it's not, it belongs to mommy. Go put it on the tree."
He took the plane and walked toward the tree, but then held it up and started to pretend to make it fly, pursing his lips and making engine sounds. Before the tiny plane got very far it hit some turbulence, went into a spiral and slowly started heading downward in the direction of the floor.
"Oh no!" my son cried, "I'm getting dizzy! Do something!" This plea inspired the pilot to correct the little plane and get it flying back toward the Christmas tree. Then the pilot defied the mommy control tower's instructions to land and instead of touching down on a bough, it flew in a wide circle around the Christmas tree a few of times before it went into another spiral and the same plea of dizziness was made again. Because of my husband, we have a lot of aviation-themed Christmas ornaments. At the rate things are going, it could be mid January before my tree gets decorated, since all of these little planes may need to take a test flight or two before going on the tree, and all the miniature pilots on hand seem to be cowboys who -- given half a chance -- will take off into the restricted airspace outside of the living room.
Like I said, things are running a bit behind this year. I figure that any Christmas card that reaches it's destination before Valentines Day is on time by my own personal standards (which are the lax ones of a chronic procrastinator). I'll try to get my gifts wrapped and to their intended recipients some time before summer. My side of the family is having its Christmas celebration on the 27th, which is fine by me because I have to work and will only have to be there for a few hours at the end of the day.
I know I'll get through this holiday season somehow. Then, just when I catch my breath, it will be this time of year again and I'll be in the same predicament.
Yikes, I'm dizzy. I guess I should do something, like maybe get started early next year (or at least on time). Somehow, I doubt that's going to happen, but it's always nice to have goals, isn't it? As it stands, all I really want for Christmas this year is a little more time to prepare for it.
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Yikes, I'm dizzy.
Date: 2007-12-19 11:02 pm (UTC)Re: Yikes, I'm dizzy.
Date: 2007-12-20 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 12:51 pm (UTC)Well, at least the Jamaican authorities didn't try to shoot any of them down a la Jimmy Buffett.
My friends and I have been known to exchange Christmas presents and cards well into the summer, if it makes you feel any better. No matter what time of year it is, the line "I've got a Christmas (or sometimes birthday) present for you" always crops up in our conversations. I think we're all just too cheap, poor, and lazy to actually mail something.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 08:05 pm (UTC)Procrastination is very well known in my house. Very.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 10:55 pm (UTC)Camie still has some problems with her R and L. Not always, but sometimes. And sometimes I think she could do better, but
thinksKNOWS she's cute. And we all let her because she's the baby.no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 07:15 pm (UTC)