Dec 13, 2017 3 min read

Do you have your holiday decorations in place yet?

All around, I see Christmas and Hanukkah decorations plus pretty evergreen touches and festive lights.

I put up my tree earlier this month, plus added a few outdoor lights, a bit of greenery and a few bows.

I was fortunate enough (or planned well enough) to get the outdoor decorating done on a day when temperatures were still hovering around 50 degrees.

I still felt pressured that I was falling behind the times when three of the neighbors brightly lit up their homes the day after Thanksgiving. At least they waited until after Thanksgiving!

The weather has been so strange and uneven this fall that I actually cut the grass and mulched leaves the week after I put up my Christmas tree … in 50-plus-degree temperatures, wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

One week later, I did a final leaf raking wearing a light jacket.

Is it my imagination, or did the leaves seem to take forever to fall this fall? I don’t remember raking into December last year.

Putting up the decorations was easier than getting them down from the attic.

My tree is artificial and indestructible, so it got tossed down the steps in two pieces with muffled thuds.

I can’t count how many boxes of Christmas decorations are in the attic.

My mom loved Christmas and used to decorate the entire house, including two trees.

She was one of those excellent decorators who would take away regular knick-knacks and replace them all with holiday pieces in just the perfect spot … and then put it all back the way it was after New Year’s. My aunt and my cousin still do that, and I respect and admire them for it!

I used to be that energetic and have a large collection of snowman pieces that I would leave out all winter.

Nowadays, I can’t muster the time or energy to go through all of that.

The fact that I put a tree up is an accomplishment, considering that I always work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Since my mom and dad are gone, Christmas is just not the same anymore, but I’m happy that I added some holiday cheer with decor.

I still put gifts that I’m giving under my tree as if Santa left them for special people, and I put up stockings for both me and my boyfriend this year.

His has a few goodies in it already, and though I told him Santa needs to leave something in mine, I’m not sure that will happen.

He did make sure Santa delivered two gifts early via UPS, and they are sitting under the tree. I’m trying to resist the temptation to tear open the boxes.

Hopefully, I can hold on for two more weeks. Merry Christmas!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.