01 December 2008

Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the Christmas bling!

Haul out the advent calendars, plug in the twinkle lights and prepare the eggnog; it’s December 1st and the jolly fat man will be making his rounds in only twenty-four days!

This weekend, hubby and I decorated the house from top to bottom in all its Christmas finery: 7’ tree, garlands, stockings, bows, assorted figurines, etc. One of the joys of having a small house is that a little decorating goes a long way. You walk into our home and you immediately find yourself in the middle of a winter wonderland. I have coined my decorating style ‘sophisti-tacky,” a hodge-podge of elegance and cheap and cheerful. We certainly go all out, but the overall effect has to be something that we can live with for an entire month without wanting to gouge our eyes out.

Once again, I find myself amazed by my hubby’s patience. Setting up the Christmas tree is a task that is wrought with tradition and routine, I have a certain set of procedures that I must follow painstakingly in order to complete my objective with 100% satisfaction.


Rule #1
Christmas music must be played at all times while the tree goes up

Rule #2
One must sing along, loudly, to aforementioned Christmas tunes

Rule #3
Pajamas should always be worn while assembling the tree

Rule #4
All lights must be tested and connected before the tree branches are opened

Rule #5
Tacky silver garland must be placed around tree with equal spacing

Rule #6
Angel placement must be perfectly centered and balanced, with coaching from the wife

Rule #7
Ornaments are placed in order of importance and sentimentality

Rule #8
Tinsel is placed on the tree, generous but not too generous (arguments may ensue)

Rule #9
Place the crèche under the tree

Rule #10
Stand back and proceed to Ohhhhh and Ahhhhh!


Hubby decided to create his own rule this year - sipping mimosas while decorating the tree! Typically we will open up some Champagne on Christmas morning while opening our presents, but we had an extra bottle kicking around so he thought it would be a nice treat while we worked. Perhaps this was his way of relaxing his wife’s regimented decorating process? He further softened me by giving me an advent calendar – clearly catering to my childish side that still gets totally excited at the prospect of opening a little door and eating a miniature candy every morning! He’s knows me so well…

Thankfully we were able to setup all the decorations in record time and the house looks beautiful. All that remains to be done, aside from a truckload of baking, is shipping out the Christmas cards and annual newsletter to all our friends and family. I managed to prepare most of the cards last evening but ran out of ink three-quarters of the way through printing the newsletters. I look forward to getting these forty-five cards off my hands! It’s a big job but it’s also a tradition that I like to keep going. People so seldom receive anything via snail mail these days, other than bills and flyers; it’s always nice to get something that doesn’t require a return cheque or payment…although we’ll gladly accept donations – hehe!

Happy December everyone!

1 comment:

F3rret said...

You've even redecorated your BLOG for Christmas! Looks nice. :)