We’d started dragging the Christmas things from the storage room on Saturday, so the family room was already full of junk and boxes galore. Over the years I’ve collected so much stuff, we’re never able to use it all, but we use as much on the tree as we can, put a few favorite things up and that’s it. Here it is Monday night, and there’s still a little cleanup to be done. I remember the days decorating was only a one-day affair. What happened?

Here’s the tree fresh–not from the farm but from the box–and Hubby’s starting the arduous task of unfolding the limbs. Ummm! Smell that delicious pine scent? (Use a little imagination, please.) I think it’s too close to the curio in the corner, so I think we need to rearrange all the furniture so everything will fit better.

The granddaughter passing by our house with her mom as they walk home from a birthday party wants to stop by for a short visit. The scene looks delightfully messy for a four year old so she asks to stay and help.

Help means keeping the angels and the little stuffed penguin contented until it’s their turn to go on the tree, and who knows what Grandma  will pull out of those boxes next?

This genderless angel (head shrouded in in netting and golden wings hanging from the back of the sleigh) and the penguin sporting the red bowtie are being treated to a sleigh ride. I’m thinking that they’ve been wanting to ride in one of those red buggies a very long time, and wondering why I never thought of it myself.

Meanwhile, the tree’s been fluffed out and moved closer to the television. It’s looking pretty good so far even without stuff on it. It’s an apartment sized tree, 7 feet, but the branches aren’t spread very wide so it doesn’t take up much floor space.

In our Las Vegas house with its 25 foot living room ceiling, we needed a 12-footer that took a terribly long time to fluff and arrange and decorate. I like this one much better.

My mother made these little plastic angels for me only a year or so before she died. So every Christmas we bring them out for their yearly outing. This year one will go on the tree top, and the other will adorn a portion of the living room mantel.

Here it is now–all gussied up and ready to welcome in the holidays in all its glittery glory. The decorations are only about a third of the whole inventory, but every one holds a memory. When we were living in Connecticut we started a tradition of hand making  an ornament each year and for many years we kept it up.

Next time I’ll show you a special Christmas item from 1995 and tell you how I came to acquire it. For now, however, since it’s almost 9 p.m.,  it’s time to get out the Christmas CDs and play the sounds to match the look. It certainly is beginning to look, sound, and feel a lot like Christmas in our house.

This is it! Day 30 of the challenge to publish a post each day of November. Surprisingly I had a lot of fun and got into the swing of things, learned a few things too. I began to relax and let the post flow for itself without worrying if it was too stupid or not. My regular readers have been gracious and supportive, and I can’t imagine quitting now. But it won’t be daily. Hubby is so relieved to know that! Maybe our schedule and dinner times will be less scattered. But I hope to regularly post several times a week come hell or high water. It feels good that I did it, and that’s all I have to say for now. But I’ll be back soon, whether you consider that a threat or a promise.