You knew this was going to happen. Don't act surprised.
I'm a bit of an over-achiever when it comes to Christmas decorating. I get it honestly. My mother is the queen bee of this sort of thing. And I've been decorating for Christmas since I was a kid. I've also had the same issues with patience in putting it all out since I was a kid as well. I would always beg my mother the week before Thanksgiving if I could please put up my Christmas tree and lights please! Sometimes she relented. My brother and sister and I would squeal and run up to our respective rooms. I'd throw on some Bing and light a Yankee Candle (only when I was old enough for an open flame in my room of course) and decorate away. Happier than a pig in.... well you know.
I still light the candle and throw on some Bing, now I also pour a glass of red (sometimes being an adult has it's perks). So for the sake of documenting every single aspect of my life here are the photos of the final product. Because! One needs photos!
//matt gave this nativity set to his parents when he was in kindergarten. it's perfect. chipped figures and all. plus it's as close as possible to the homemade set of my mother's, and a nativity must be all white if you ask me. the stable was hers and she kindly let me have it.\\
//i have a photo from every christmas we've been together. some with santa. some with trees. but there's always one.\\
//what some might see as snow baby clutter i see as year's worth of memories.\\
//personalized stockings were hung by the chimney with care.\\
//we've got quite the crazy concoction of ornaments on our tree. from every vacation destination. from every year. from every life event.\\
//even the play room needs a fun tree\\
//THIS! my mother has a tree just like this and it was always a favorite of mine. i used to stand there and oh so carefully spin the little bulbs around checking for loose ones. she amazingly found an antique one for me! i love those little bulbs! Nostalgia all around!\\
//exterior illumination.\\
After putting all these photos up here and describing the things I love most I realized that it all has to do with my mother and the traditions that she started. Practically everything I do in my home for the holidays is imitating what my mother does in hers. Not just that, but she has physically created so many items that I bring out year after year. The wreath on the front door. The garland on my railing. David's tree. Letty's tree. From displaying Christmas photos from past years, to purchasing a new Santa every year, to the white nativity set, to the antique ceramic tree she got me... it's all from her.
It's my favorite time of the year and I have so many wonderful memories I couldn't even begin to get them all down in writing. Every time I hang up an ornament from my youth I smile because I remember not only the reason behind the ornament but also bugging my mother over and over if we could just get this tree decorating business started already. I am and always have been a superb nag.
When I was decorating the tree the other day I found myself repeating the same phrases to Letteria that I heard from my mother over and over while she decorated her tree. Be patient Letty. Mommy is hanging the breakable ornaments first. See how they go near the top? The unbreakable ones go near the bottom. It'll just go faster if you let Mommy do it. You only get to do this once a year take your time. Once it's done it's done. But honey that one doesn't look right there it hangs too low or it's too close to another one just like it. And I smiled. Not just because so many things I have surrounding me this time of year remind me of my mother... but because I am starting to remind me of my mother. And she's a pretty great lady.
I even snap my fingers while I sing to oldies in the car. So. There's also that.
