Not till after dessert … Though I was an only child, my family had to build firm guidelines around when we could start decorating for Christmas. Not until after dessert on Thanksgiving! No decorations, no carols, no anything till after dessert (that includes loading the dishwasher, in case you're wondering).
This meant that, when Thanksgiving dinner was at our house, I could occasionally be found pulling out boxes of "Christmas stuff" while we still had company.
Now I'm an adult, with no rules or conditions on my celebration schedule. So I've been playing Christmas carols for several weeks now, and haunting the set of drawers used to sort presents: what do I have for whom and who is being left out and what can I go shopping for now?
Christmas choir rehearsals started several weeks ago, which gave me a legitimate excuse for starting before Thanksgiving. The program will be both services on the first Sunday in December, which only gives us a few more times to practice—such FUN!
But next week is Thanksgiving week, and I can start cranking into gear! Monday Brittany (high school sophomore friend) and I will put up my outside lights, although I won't start lighting them till Thanksgiving night. Friday I will get my tree (I'd do it sooner, but the lots aren't open till the day after Thanksgiving!). And, if I can find some gift wrap with a Christian message, I'll start wrapping and tagging over the next week, also.
Ah, such fun! When I was small, we came up with a "family word" for the feeling: christmastreeputtingup! And just think, when I see Jesus face to face, that feeling will put this one in the shade!
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Posts
on marshmallows
just when you thought it was safe to get out of the water …
My friend Shannie
fun at Safeway
Maurita is 90? Goodness!
Beware!
Life Lessons from Dads
“Stars and Stripes Forever”
My yard …
Elk Creek’s Spelling Bee
Snow
Ho ho ho!
busy … busy … busy …
Student advocacy …
Small world!
July 1st
fretting …
my new plants
“The Lord planted a garden …”
Worms
hideously horrible, absolutely wonderful writing conference!
Me and the Beatles?
April 14 snowstorm
of Apples and support services
Peak-to-Peak’s Christmas concert
Let there be lights
Mrs. Miniver
fireworks—soggy, glorious!
An island, just for me?
Contemporvant
Trip reading
May!
Flamingo in a snowbank
An abundant week, part 3
An abundant week, part 1
Girl Scout cookie time
Crash Blossoms
Low mood …
Bee sentences
Jesus-is-born scenario
Habit
After Thanksgiving dessert
11.11.11
New dawn?
Snail mail
Tardiness
Oh, yawn!
Technology
Weather
Organization?
Memory lane?
Techno-speak for the elderly
“Where Go the Boats?”
Jumble ®
Fireworks in Westminster
Solution
“Up” from Disney/Pixar
Summer in Colorado
June!
“Grand re-opening”
Flag waving
CU Graduation
Snowstorm on my mind
Cat at Red Lobster
Cheers for FedEx!
Name game
New leaders
Sable samovar
Magformers ™
“Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
Visiting author
Dizzy dame
Recess?
A mossy stone?
October 4, 1957
Autumn
A hint of fall in the air
What a day!
Home!
Cirque de Soleil
“Gave proof through the night”
EN-ER-giz-ing …
Pretend friend
Cockroach letter
Sunday
Oral Spelling Bee
9 ladies dancing …
Registered trademark
Meme?
Christmas carol basics
Snowed in (sort of)
Lights
Just moosin’ around …
Spelling Bee screener
Brigadoon?
Not till after dessert …
November …
“Life” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1922
A bookish day
Charles Martin’s books
“children of all ages”
CU Band Day
Fall into Reading update
First full day of fall
Fall into Reading
Unnecessary quotation marks
Busybusybusy day …
The system …
Celebratory mood!
First day …
Supper with friends
Youthful exuberance?
Kitty grass
Sharp crayons, new spirals …
Songs and choices
Camp songs
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