One more week of school and the holidays will officially have arrived. At least that’s when I’m starting to celebrate! I have a week off of school for Thanksgiving and two weeks at Christmas so there will be time for celebrating! The thing is I’m not sure how I plan to celebrate exactly. The kids will be with their dad on a trip for the Thanksgiving break. They will arrive back at my place on Friday evening so I could plan a holiday soiree for Saturday, I guess. I’m sure they will be partied out though, and I might be the only one in the mood for some holiday food. I’ve invited my friend, Fleur de lis, over for Thanksgiving day, but I don’t think I want to make the huge turkey in the freezer for the two of us. There would be leftovers to share with the kids once they arrived, but I almost think I’d rather have nontraditional holiday fare and save the big stuff for Christmas when I will have the kids, aka more people to eat the food. Who knows…certainly not me…I am way to indecisive about stuff like this. I’ll decide in plenty of time to cook whatever it is I decide to cook and that’s good enough for me.
The next order of celebration prepping to think about is the Christmas tree. Last year I threw away the pre lit artificial tree I’d had since 2005 because several sections of light had gone out and no amount of replacing bulbs fixed them. I thought about just stringing more lights on it, but several of the low branches were bent and not very attractive. Up until we moved overseas in 2002, we’d always had a live tree so having an artificial one was almost sinful at first. Now I see the practicality in them! None of the tedious light strand wrapping around the tree. No pine needles on the floor. No unwrapping strands of lights and making an even bigger mess. No figuring out what to do with a dead tree come January 1. But…I love the fresh smell of a tree. And ever since my mom and dad had a real flocked tree at their house one year, I’ve wanted one at my house. I’d always thought they were a bit cheesy and then it was so grand and magnificent and beautiful that I’ve wanted one ever since. So therein lies my dilemma. Flocked fake trees are crazy expensive, but do I go for the nice $180 4.5 foot one and be committed to a little flocked tree for several years? Or do I go for the real 7 footer for about the same price but only get to keep it for one year? One thing about the shorter tree is that I can put it on a low table or something to add height and then add a wreath or something else made from real pine boughs to bring in the freshness. That would keep the dog from chewing on the tree and give me the smell I love. Hm…decisions, decisions.
I’ve just come back to this post after spending an hour on ebay, amazon, and several other shopper’s paradise sites, and now I am in a crazy shopping mood. I am never in a shopping mood! I either need to go back to bed to avoid spending money, or I need to get dressed and get out there! Daylight’s wasting!
(BTW…I just bid on a Kitchenaid mixer on ebay so I guess avoiding spending money while in bed is out of the question, but I blew out my little hand mixer last weekend making bread dough. I knew it was too much for the little guy to handle, but I tried it anyway. I HAD to get something new, and I’ve wanted a Kitchenaid for forever. Now…if only the next 12 hours pass without anyone outbidding me, I’ll be set!)
Update…I didn’t get the mixer which is probably better, because I did spend a little money on a few Christmas decorations yesterday. I’ll just get another hand held mixer for all the holiday cooking I’ll do, and maybe get one next year. It was so pretty though….sigh.
Midlife Natalie 