The Tree:
As you might or might not know the Daughters and I put our fake artificial tree up back at the end of November this year. That for me is extremely early. I have never done it before. I also finally embraced the fakeness of Christmas and bought us a cute little plastic and prelit Christmas tree from Sears last year. Part of mine and Teapot's tradition has always been to put up the tree quite close to Christmas Eve...usually somewhere between the 20th to 23rd. We would, as a family, march ourselves out into the bush to look for a suitable Christmas tree and then spend the next 24 hrs standing it up, thawing it out, watering it, and then decorating the hell out of it. But last year I finally put my foot down and bought an artificial tree for a variety of reasons.
Reason #1:
Having grown up in NFLD, where trees of the evergreen variety abound, picking, cutting and bringing home a Christmas tree was an easy job. Each year we would go out into the bush and we would look for a tree of epic beauty and bring it home to grace our home with ease. But when I moved away from NFLD I realised how spoiled I was. Trees on the mainland grow much faster than they do in NFLD. Trees in Nfld are barraged from the day the poke their first bud through the ground with an onslaught of high winds and cool (if not cold) springs, short growing seasons, and my experience has always been that even the smallest of Christmas trees would have a substantially large trunk. By the time a tree is 6 ft high it has already put on about thirty or forty rings of bark. This makes for standing a tree in the stand quite and easy job. So you can imagine my dismay when I went looking for a Christmas tree the first time on the mainland and discovered that a thirty year old tree is usually about 40 ft high. This will not fit into my living room no matter how hard I try. Therefore all real trees that we have had since leaving NFLD have been spindly and pathetic or doctored with extra branches that turn brown two days after Christmas.
Reason #2:
I've always hated putting the tree up so close to Christmas and then having to clean up the mess when there is wrapping to do and visiting to do and Christmas programs to watch or listen to. With our artificial tree we can put it up when ever the mood strikes, and there is no mess. Daughter #2 and I put up or tree last year as soon as we got it and it took 6 minutes from the time we started till the time we had it ready to put the bulbs on. I loved that... and while I miss finding pine/fir needles in the corners of the room in June, I don't miss the mess they make in December. We decided to put it up early this year, and believe me I've taken some criticism for that, but really it has been truly wonderful. Each night Teapot and the girls have come home from school tired and exhausted (there's flu going around our school and there have been some nasty scares as they have fought not to get it) and we have turned on a Christmas movie or a DVD of a Christmas concert and for 1 or 2 hours as we eat our dinner, enjoy a little Christmas spirit... this has been completed with a glass of homemade eggnog (far nicer than the store bought stuff) or a little Christmas chocolate or cookie. Getting an artificial tree and putting it up on the first day of Advent was the best thing we've ever done. So I think it has become a new tradition in our house. We have even decided to name our Christmas tree. (It's name is now Yawnus). As for real evergreen in the house... I've even taken care of that. We purchase a real wreath from a group in town that sell them as a fundraiser and I always order fresh Holly from the florist. Unfortunately, there is no smell (or very little) of fir, pine, or balsam but if I need it I can always bring in some bows or light a candle. I just love, love, love our cute little plastic Christmas tree. It has been so freeing.
Christmas Gifts:
I love Christmas gifts.... well who doesn't. Still I buy them or make them all. It is a stressful thing to take care of the wants and desires of everyone we know, and make sure that they get it in time for the big day. Recently I've tried to be less uptight about the whole process. I can change my mind about things at the last minute if I want, and if people don't get it in time for Christmas day then I'm not going to give myself a heart attack worrying about it. There's always Old Christmas day (also known as Ukranian Christmas or the Twelfth Night) and if you don't receive your parcel in time for Santa Day then you can celebrate Christmas any day in between.... and you might just have to when my parcel arrives.
Also, while I hate spending a fortune on Christmas gifts, and hate going into debt each year and spending the next 6 months trying to dig myself out, I do enjoy giving gifts. So a few years ago I decided that I would try to make more of our Christmas gifts.... not only to save money but because my time is precious and when I take the time to figure out what you might like and then I take the time to make it, then you know that it really is a gift of the heart. This adds somewhat to the burden of stress before Christmas but I have tried to overcome that problem by allowing myself to change my mind at the last minute. I recently had planned on sending my sister a scarf, and her husband a pair of hand knit socks, and her son a hand knit toque. But when Teapot said he liked the socks it changed the whole thing. My sister and family are receiving gift cards and mugs of goodies, and Teapot will get the socks. I had planned on making socks for a family of four who have been our longest standing friends since moving here to HH.... I've changed my mind on that one too. The two kids are getting hand spun and hand knit toques (less work than socks) and a gift card from Coles book store. The parents are getting a box of homemade bread with jams and herb dipping sauces.
See easy... just change your mind... no stress no fuss. And when people open their gifts on Christmas day and then send you a thank you or give you a big smile it really makes you feel like a million bucks.
Christmas shopping:
While you have heard me say that I hate Christmas shopping, I can also say that there are things about it that I like. I do like to hold the door open for everyone as I'm entering a store, mall, or boutique..... and that includes that crabby old lady and the burly middle aged man who only has getting in and getting out as quickly as possible on their minds... with a cheery "Merry Christmas" wish and a smile. But you can see them suddenly become human again.... I love that. I love to drop a $5 or a $10 or a hand full of change into the SA kettle by the front door of which ever store that I walk into. I always stop to pass the time with whoever is sitting by the kettle and offer up a cheery "Merry Christmas" to them too. They deserve our respect and heartfelt gratitude for what they do.
I love the bins of colourful wrapping paper and spend long moments choosing which colours will grace the packages under our tree and the parcels we give out at Christmas time. I LOVE the music of Christmas and find myself warbling along as I drift in and out of various stores that I visit. I'm sure those in hearing distance must think I'm a nutter. But that's ok because I usually give them a chipper smile and say something about loving to sing Christmas carols. Then I get a wicked laugh inside when I watch the look of surprise thatcrosses their face because a perfect stranger (me) whose obviously a weirdo, just spoke to them. And then when all my shopping is done including all the online faceless stuff I get a great sense of satisfaction that it is done and I look at all the loot and think how this one is going to love that and that one is going to love this.... etc.
Lights:
I love the lights of Christmas.... it's that simple!
Cozy comforts leading up to, and surrounding the darkest day of winter:
I love the cozy feel of my family, each one doing their own little thing, unknowing of the great surprises I have planned for them, as I tear out the toe on the latest pair of socks, or blend the most recent combination of fibre on the drum carder, or spin the latest thread. I love to get up in the morning and have a cup of jo as the dawn slowly rises on a morning of grey and crystalline frost, or the white downiness of new fallen snow. I love carmel tea with a very small splash of Bailey's (I only allow my self that at Christmas). I love walking in through the door after a cold walk when the heat of the house hits you. I love warm mittens and warm boots. I love crawling into my bed at night a staring up at clear skies full of stars and looking for the Christmas star and wondering what it was like for the three wisemen.
Christmas Eve:
I love church on Christmas eve. I love that a full church sings altogether, Christmas carols as old as memory. I love the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ. I love the expectation on the faces of children. I love that in the quiet of the night you hear Merry Christmas called out as people leave the church and head for home and a night of surprises and wrappings. I love being the last to leave the church and turn out the lights and lock the door.... I love the quiet of the church and thank God for peace, love, joy and hope. And I love... just love, that as I head to my vehicle I know that a waiting Teapot and Daughters are glad to see me come. I love dropping in to visit friends after church and before we head home. I love hanging stockings... and then filling them. I love that every Christmas Eve Teapot gets out his camera no matter how late it is and takes a picture of the tree and the stockings laying in wait for the next morning.
After Christmas:
I love sitting around on Christmas Day till 3 p.m. in my jammies.... as smells of roasting turkey waft from the kitchen. I love Christmas dinner... turkey... just one word... yum! I love boxing day... it's the best day of the year. One word to describe that day.... relaxation. I love skating (though I don't do it anymore because of my back), I love sliding parties, and I love skiiing (though I find that hard to do too).... More than anything I love when people drop in for a visit.... awesome. I love our Christmas family portrait that we take each year and I love that after we have taken 10 or 12 and everyone is tired, we take one that is completely silly and totally goofy. I love celebrating New Year's Eve with a bonfire and friends. I love ringing in the new year with some sparkly beverage.
December 28th:
I love Teapot and thank the heavens above that we got married.... and I even love that we got married during the Christmas Season. It will be 20 years this year.
Old Christmas Day:
I love that we have special antique stockings that we rehang for that day. I love that we have made a tradition of taking down Yawnus (the Christmas Tree) on that day and putting him back to sleep in his box. I love that for a whole 10 months... we don't have to think about Christmas anymore. I love that at this point you can notice that the days are starting to get longer and the long drowsy days of spring are just a short while away.
So that's it... a bunch of things that I like about Christmas. I hope you can take the time to find all the positives that make Christmas good for you. Remember dwelling on the bad will make you wrinkled and old before your time.... enjoy your friends and family.... and smile a lot even when you don't feel like it because I promise it will make you feel a whole lot better. And if that doesn't work I guarantee that a half bottle of Rye (or Whisky, or gin, or Rum) will!
Really.... I don't drink... ; )
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