by restrangled 51 Replies latest jw friends
Dear Anewme,
Isn't it fun?!!! Just goes to show that the holidays are not about gifts, paganism, and the like but happy feelings, sharing, family, decorating etc.
We are short this year on xtra cash, but I could care less. I'm enjoying the music, food and companionship of the people I love.
We picked out our christmas cards tonight. Send me a PM with your address, I'd love to send you one!
Best regards,
r.
Ours was up by noon on Thanksgiving and I am still decorating it. Much to my husband's chagrin, I also put the wreaths out on the front of the house Thursday morning as well. But I love all the decorations so much that I want them up as long as possible.
I start about now. I do it in stages. Hubbie helps with the brawn and I with the artistic talent. We have out table decorations out and have started putting up garlands. I do the tree in 3 day stages. Fake is best if you put it up now unless you put up a living tree to plant later. Fire hazard.
Do you buy a new ornament each year with a special meaning?
Blondie
I'm happy to hear about so many people getting their freedom to enjoy life, friends and family!
Traditionally, Christmas is a very busy time for me. So, I never bothered decorating. We always went to my parents' place anyway. Then, we started to have Christmas dinner here when my husband's family started joining my family for Christmas. (We have the largest house, so they all figured that it was our duty. lol) Then I had to decorate, but I still had no tree. No time to buy one, and no decorations to put on it. Nobody could stand our "treeless state". My sister-in-law gave us her 3 foot tree. Friends gave us ornaments. And, voila, we had a Christmas tree. It finally drove my sister-in-law crazy to see that 3 foot tree in our big, vaulted ceiling family room, so last year when she bought herself a new tree, she gave us her old one. Well, when I first put it up last year and put all the ornaments I had on it, it looked sooooo ugly and bare. I think it was the ugliest tree I'd ever seen. But ornaments seemed to keep showing up from different quarters and, by Christmas dinner time, everyone was oooing and ahhing over how beautiful it was. With that, I'm so encouraged, I think I'll get the tree out a bit earlier this year. Maybe the first week of Dec.
Cellist (of the "had too much wine with dinner" class)
Hi Blondie,
Yes I have ornaments as old as my boys. One is 22 years from Hallmark. A darling little rocking horse. When the boys got a little older one year they made me an ornament in school which I still have. Every year those ornaments make my heart smile and I have to run around with them asking the boys ...do you remember this?...and then show my husband....I have ornaments made by old friends, ornaments I bought with my mother-in-law, each seems so special. I have lost a few over the years and wonder, what the heck happened to them, remembering each individually and the memory they are tied in with.
r.
My wife put the tree up Thursday night and decorated Friday.
Dear Cellist,
I bet your tree is beautiful! I find it takes a few days to get it the way I want it to look.
By the way, I take it you play the Cello? Thats an unusual instrument. My mother in law plays the cello. She's about 5'1" so its quite a picture..... Her Cello is bigger than she is. She has played for years in quartets and for her church. This year is the last time she performed as its getting to be too much for her.
r.
Does anyone put up an advent tree?
It's a small table top tree you put up on the first advent and then put on a little decoration each day until Christmas. (starts 4th Sunday before Christmas--12/3/06)
Or Advent candles (4 candles within a wreath, light candle each Sunday)
Or Advent calendars (windows opened for each day with a treat inside)
restrangled,
Thank you. It took me a week just to get the lights on last year. I'm hoping to be a little faster this year. What I really like about my tree is that most of what goes on it has been a gift from someone. Not that I'm cheap, I've put out plenty of money for Christmas decorations. It just seems to make the tree more special.
Yes, I play the cello. I'm 5'3" (and a half), not too much bigger than your MIL. My fellow cellist in our ensemble is 85 and about the same height as me. I'm afraid that his days are numbered too. Because there's two of us, he's able to leave the harder passages to me when he feels too tired (or confused). One of our clarinet players is also in his 80's. They're wonderful people and we hope to keep them playing with us as long as possible. Tomorrow afternoon we're all getting together to go over our Christmas music. I have a few new arrangements for us to try. Does your MIL ever play for you after Christmas dinner? There are a few musically inclined people who come to dinner here and we try to have singing and carols in the evening. I made up a bunch of little books with the words.
Happy decorating!
Cellist
Dear Cellist,
Yes my MIL use to play after dinner, she also played the piano and taught music for many years. The tradition was to go and see her play the Christmas concert with the regional symphony. Her last performance just this past week was playing Shaharazad...(spelling)? it did her in midway and she passed out and wound up in the hospital. She is out now and is fine and still plans on playing in the string quartets but not the symphony. She is 83 this year.
She also always attended a yearly gathering in Interlochen Michigan that is pretty well known. Are you familiar with that?
r.
