Life is too busy, but decorations are up

[torilen]

As the subject states, life has been WAAAAAYYYY too busy here lately. Haven't had time for writing, haven't
had to to rest...just too much going on.

I like all you folks, and I feel like I can be real, so here we go:
The wife and kids are at a family craft night at church tonight, and I just really didn't feel like going...for
several reasons. Our car was rifled through last night and both ipods (Christmas gifts two years ago) we stolen;
upset BECAUSE the van was left unlocked for the theft; and, really, I just do not feel too hot tonight. I need
a break from work and from life.

I decided to stay home, alone, watch some tv, drink a bit, and put up Christmas Decorations.
Wouldn't you know it, I can't find some of the items. There are pins missing to hold snowflake
streamers over the walkways. I can fix that tonight and buy more. The table cloth is missing, as are
the special napkins (that don't really get used - just for looks until we actually eat). They're around
somewhere, I just have no idea where.

Everything else is out, though, and once the house is cleaned up, it will look quite nice around here. I really
wish we had more outdoor decorations...we've bought a piece here and a piece there AFTER the season the
last couple of years, and we're slowly getting stuff. It rains so much here lately, though, it almost doesn't make
sense to even put outdoor decorations up, since we can't plug anything in safely.

Since I haven't had much time, I have two outdoor pieces I was going to MAKE that are not finished. Hopefully
this weekend I can get that done, and they can be out for a couple of weeks, at least. Luckily, aside from
buying some spray paint and a few paint brushes, those were free - found some nice wood on the side of the
road that worked perfectly. I made some Halloween pieces that turned out fairly nice.

So, after my little whine-fest, I have a question. What do you all put out for Christmas? Us...the usual American
fair - a tree, stockings, table nick-nacks for winter and/or Christmas (snowmen, Santa-style items, snowflakes, etc.).
We have lights out front, and I have several Charlie Brown Christmas items that I like to put out...figurines and stuffed
characters and such. We have a really old cloth Christmas Calendar that we hang, but the tiny metal lute that you move
each day is missing...we had it last year.

So...what does every else like to put up?

[j_dean80]

Wife has the inside decorated with the big Charlie Brown and Snoopy out; the table made up with a poinsettia in the center; little Christmas village on a side table; lights, garland and manger scene on another table. Plan to get a real Christmas tree this year now that my boys are a little older and hopefully won't touch everything. Waiting a bit for that so all the needles don't fall off before Christmas arrives. I have yet to do the outside. Mandatory 60 hrs at work is killing me. My one free day this past weekend was too windy to climb a ladder to hang lights and I couldn't get the mower started to cut the grass the last time to put out the moulds. Outside is left Christmas-less, even lacking the wreath on the door. Hopefully soon.

[benvoliothefirst]

Sorry to hear about your iPods. I had two of 'em stolen in separate incidents over the course of six months, people were literally walking around the neighborhood, trying every door and rifling through cars where they were unlocked. Makes you feel very unsafe. Luckily my mom caught 'em outside her school while she was on recess duty!

I've turned into a grinch recently, I let my son put up the tree and some decorations and that's it. I have to put it all away in a month!

[Daedalus]

In Taiwan you see a smattering of Christmas decorations, but most of it is civic or commercial. I've got lights up outside, but still need to do the indoor string. A tree, nativity set, and a hanging Frosty from my childhood are all out.

But your projects have inspired me. In the past I've created a Battle for the North Pole tabletop warfare scenario. That has since been scaled down to a snowball skirmish game for kids. This year I think it's time to again set up a North Pole table. My daughter and I are gonna fill the skies as Santa and Mrs, Clause's little helpers face off. It will be bloody merry.

[torilen]

Glad I could inspire such grand and heroic adventures. "Merry freakin' Christmas" (axe swipe)

[Thor-in]

We do the normal stuff, tree, stockings, garland, ext.. This year I can finally decorate outside. The house I lived in before, my front porch was too small to put lights on and with living in upstate New York (at the base of the adirondack mountains) the lights would not have lasted the snow we would get. So now the we traveled 1,000 miles south to a different state and moved into a house with a full front porch with posts and a roof I finally have been able to decorate my exterior of the house. I feel like Homer Simpson when something go’s right Woohoo.

[Thor-in]

So my wife was going to get angry with me for this but she couldn’t.

Nothing like having the ghost of Christmas yet to come in your home for the holidays

[Anderas]

I will never understand that particular tradition

I was putting out lights outside, two weeks ago. It was feeling like so heavy work while there was sharp ice-cold wind, i put only half of what i intended.

Vali, my daughter, was cleaning her shoes for the sixth. In Germany, it is tradition to clean one set of boots and put it in front of the door. Over night, the holy st. Nicolaus is coming and fills one of the boots with chocolate.
She was so happy to see that Nicolaus really was there! One hour later, she called me: "Dad, i think NIcolaus did not only fill the shoes. He also filled the placard with gifts" Yes she did find them. The sixth of december.

To release some of the urge, she we allowed to open one of the gifts after she successfully read some words in her learning book. The rest of the gifts is (yet) untouched under the tree. let's see how long she keeps true to her promise

[torilen]

Thor-in - that ghost is a little creepy looking. I like it.

Anderas, I don't think I've heard about the cleaning of boots for gifts before. I'll have to look that up...sounds fun.
AND...both my daughters have boots. Could be fun for them to clean them up nice for Santa.

[knightkrawler]

I once put my boot outside.
Next morning I boiled it on hot water so I could slurp the chocolate out of it. It was still too thick so I utilized the rest of a bottle of Beefeater to thin it down.
I then did a large line of coke and called two hookers. I had them dress up as Santa Claudine and Knecht Rupprecht and call me Grinch.