Almost finished...

Today has been...one of those days...which seem to occur most frequently around holidays, and the much-anticipated visits of critical family/friends.

Let me give you a rundown...

After Mass yesterday, DH and the dc started bringing the boxes of Christmas decorations over from one of our 'shop' buildings. We have 9 or more boxes of Christmas "stuff" (one is the fake tree all by itself). It doesn't seem like much, until I have them all piled into the carport. I started off easy...with the garland I made up years ago--inexpensive 'fir' garland, wrapped with a red 'berry' garland, wrapped with white lights, wrapped with gold wire ribbon (all of those are wired TO the fir garland)...and then, finally, plastic ornaments are wired on. I have three of them, about 7 feet each. I made them for our much smaller old home, and so now, I need more of them. Good thing I bought extra materials, because I am going to need it to finish decorating *this* house...lol...

So I got those lovelies up, and plugged in...put the little candle lamps into the windows in the dining room and kitchen, and pulled out a few other things to put out last night. I had taken down all of the fall decor finally yesterday afternoon and packed it up...so that was another "to do" marked off of the list.

But today dawned. And El Husbando wanted his tree up. He didn't *say* it, so much as *looked* it. I think you wives know what I mean! Not to mention, that I was being hounded by my seven year old every hour on the hour "Can we put the tree up NOOOOOWWWWWW????". We actually did do some schoolwork today, but then the "fun" began.

Now, you ladies know how much fun it is to play house...move furniture this way and that, try and decide how you like it--when someone else is doing the moving. But today, it was all me and the children. We decided that we wanted to surprise Daddy, by having the house as decorated as possible today...

I'd go into more detail as to what decorating entailed, but let me just give you a short list....lol...short...lol...hahahahaha...

1)unloaded and moved two 4x8 bookshelves fully loaded (most shelves double stacked). Those suckers are HEAVY. They were flanking an old weathered painted drop leaf table El Husbando had brought down from storage after we moved here (before we closed out that storage unit, thank goodness!). Now they are in the corner...I just wish we had more of them! We have SOOOO many books...
2)unloaded and moved the red corner entertainment center, from the family room, near the fireplace, to the one corner in the dining room, where it will--God willing I can get the boxes over here--begin a new life as a china cabinet tomorrow, when I unload and unpack my antique china into it. That involved removing the dead tv, satellite box, dvd/vcr, the entire cannibalized collection of board games that have been utterly demolished by certain young people who shall remain nameless, but go by the numbers 1-5.....and assorted pieces of the green pottery I have collected for close to 20 yrs now, that had been residing on top (they are now, too, in the new location. But I'm thinking I'll be moving more stuff around soon).
3)moved the red dresser from the corner of the dining room where the entertainment center/china cabinet now stands, and moved it into the dining room (into the place where that dropleaf table had been.
4) moved the dropleaf into the dining room under the large window (it is close to 7 feet wide).
5)washed my collection of apothecary jars and pillar vases in warm vinegar water, and had the dds unload the summer's decor of seashells (yes, I know, but I never found enough pine cones and nuts to replace them come fall)
6)put up the tree. Oh, I vacuumed before I did that. Got said tree completely decorated mere moments before DH pulled up.
7)poured some Epsom salts into the bottom of my now-dry jars, and filled them the rest of the way with leftover pretty ornaments. Some vintage, some not. Some I got at the thrift store a few weeks ago. The apothecary jars are flanking the Advent candleholder, on the dropleaf table in the dining room (all except the two smallest, which are now in the kitchen window).
8)Got out the whirligig thingee El Husbando and I bought 14 yrs ago, the first year we were married, when we were stationed in Germany. We've used it...once? I think? in all that time. But I set it up on the red dresser, in front of the antique mirror from my grandmother's farm, and next to my thrift store find marble table lamp (Needs a new shade, but I'm trying to decide on what color). I want to do a few other things on that dresser top, but I can't decide *what* precisely.
9)pulled out some small red, green, and gold mercury glass looking votives I bought and put away for such an occasion, and put them into the kitchen window.
10)went out the first shop, and looked for my china...no luck. Since that is where I *thought* it was, I am somewhat perturbed. This was after dark, and since the other shop isn't electrified, well, I'm not going out there to dig in the dark. I suspect I know where it is, but tomorrow (during the day) I'm going to give the first shop another look, before I go on to the second. I did find my punchbowls and cups, though, so I know where those are and can dig them out pretty easily/quickly when needed...
11)made dinner. Nothing fancy, but it was hot, and it was fresh, and it was FOOD. :-) Homemade jalapeno-cheddar 'game' sausage, mac and cheese, buttered corn, egg noodles...I ate sausage. And more sausage. It was sooo good.
12)the usual day-to-day stuff...school, laundry and more laundry and more laundry, dishes and more dishes, lunch....you know what I mean...

And now...now I am sore. Very very sore. I don't move furniture often...and now I remember *why*....

I'd post pictures, but the camera is in the other room, and I am T-I-R-E-D right now. I'm going to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to go locate my china and get it into the house so I can wash it and put it up, unpack a box in the first shop that has some of my other decorative items in it (that I've been looking for unsuccessfully for MONTHS!), pull a box of baby clothes out for a friend whose dd is expecting her first this spring (hi, S!), make some more garlands and get them up, and try and think of what remains of my decorative "stuff" that I can put to use here and there in the house, now that I have the room/space/NEED to "decorate" it more...

Finally, I will say, I have been vindicated. All those years I was buying and putting away Christmas decorations because I *knew* we would not always live in that house (1100 sq ft is fine when there are 2, or 3, or even 5. But combine 7 people, homeschooling, a military career, hobbies that require SPACE, and a packrat/cottage oriented/homemaking nutjob--that'd be me, by the way!--and you've got a recipe for some tiiiiigggghhhhht quarters!). We've got 3 times the space now (oh, thank you Lord Jesus!), and a gazillion times the acreage. The Lord is merciful! And now I get to use those decorations, pictures, and furniture that DH was always "discussing" in that "why on earth do you have *this*?" voice (again, you wives know what I mean...).

God willing, I'll get this family room painted after the first of the year. I'm not going to get it done NOW, that is for sure. I wish...but between time, energy, and money...well, it is just going to have to wait.

When do *you* decorate? We kind of decided by default. I pushed it as far as I could, but the day finally came when the family would wait no more. Fortunately, it is far into Advent...Gaudete Sunday...the rose candle, don't you know. A day of happiness, in the midst of a penitential season, as we pass the halfway mark...

Do you have any particular traditions this time of year? We have not really gotten many, mostly due to El Husbando's frequent deployments. The one we did have (going to visit Santa at the Square and then eating pizza at the local pizza shop there on said square with my mother, in my hometown--won't be happening any more, as we won't be within reasonable travel distance for our 'traditional' pre-Christmas family get-together. We will have to start some more, but I'm not sure *what*, and I am looking for ideas...

So please share--what do *you* do? When--and how--do you decorate your home? Do you decorate outside, or just inside (we are confining it to indoors, mostly because no one driving by will see any yard decorations, and to "do" the house, would be cost prohibitive--not to mention, a pain for me to put up and take down)? Tell me what the pre-Christmas time is like where you are...