071 AND SO IT BEGINS

…And so, it begins.  After going crazy on decorations for Halloween a visit to the store reveals that even while the Halloween decorations were still out, just one aisle over were, you guessed it, Christmas decorations.  Now, I would never think of putting up Christmas decorations until after Remembrance Day, but even if I wanted to, townhouse bylaws state no decorations before November 15 and they must be gone by January 15.

In the old house, living in the basement, I had LED lights around the back door and around the front window.  They were plugged in on December 1 and unplugged on January 3 every year.  The lights were small and unobtrusive and so I left them up year around.

For a time, I used to put up a Christmas tree (a real one) especially when the kids were younger and would be coming to my place over the holidays.  But after the arrival of Toby, I stopped doing the tree.  I had one up the year he arrived, but he came two days before Christmas.  I stopped because it was just too much temptation for him to either pull it over or pee on it.  Plus, it was very crowed in that tiny basement.

My Mother, many years ago, made some neat Snow People and those were put out each year.  My sister had a set as well.  Hers got destroyed somehow and so I let her have mine.  After Dad died and my sister and her crew were clearing out the house, I told them to take all the Christmas decorations because I wasn’t using them anymore.  This was long before I even thought about moving out.

Now I find myself with a real urge to decorate for Christmas again.  I think this was brought on by the fun of decorating for Halloween.  I have one neighbour who decorates for every holiday.  Valentines, Easter, Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas just to name a few.  I have no intention of reaching that level, but, Halloween and Christmas are in there.

I’m having a great deal of difficulty deciding between an artificial tree and a real one.  The mess made by the real ones is a great deterrent.  I was vacuuming up needles for a month or more afterwards.  The artificial ones didn’t look real and sure don’t have that amazing smell.  Well, imagine my surprise when at Canadian Tire yesterday, I saw some amazingly real looking trees that come with lights built in.

Real trees are expensive ($50 and up), messy and it’s killing one more live tree.  Yes, I know they are grown specifically for Christmas.  You also never know what you are going to get or how long it will last, plus they are major fire hazards.  There are no regulations saying you can’t have a live tree, but those factors make it less likely.

Artificial trees are expensive ($199 to $699) but it’s a onetime expense rather than one every year.  You buy the specific size to fit your living area and the tree is always the same.  They don’t have the amazing smell, but that can be achieved by getting some real branches and there some amazing new artificial scents that can be used as well.

We went to Canadian Tire yesterday for something else and I did buy some multi coloured lights to put around the deck railing and some icicle lights in blue to hand down the railing.  I like the multi coloured lights and Renee likes all one colour and so this was the compromise.  She also picked out a reindeer to hand from the front door.

So, this is the beginning.  I saw two great statues that would look great on the deck.  One is Santa and the other is a bear.  They are both about 3 feet tall and heavy as hell.  They are also $250 each, so I think I will skip those.

So, like the title of this article suggests, “and so it begins”.  There will be more purchases, I am sure.  I also need to buy decorations for the tree, whichever way I opt to go.  There are some great personal decorations that went with all the rest, but I’ll be starting over.

One last note.  On Halloween, I had the great animated pumpkin program and I have just gotten one called “Santa’s Visit” that I will put into use.  It projects a video of Santa prowling around in the house.  It can be used in many ways, but I think I will get some translucent material for the window and project him on there.