The Christmas Countdown

My hubby and I are about as different as two people can be...and that's part of what has made life interesting.  But when it comes to the holidays, well, it's hard to reconcile the differences.

 

The first year we were married, he offered to help me decorate for Christmas.  Which was really sweet.  He came back to me in less than 30 minutes and asked if I wanted to take a look.

 

I was more than a little shocked.  After all, I've been watching my grandmother decorate her house since I was a little girl and there wasn't a spare space in her home that didn't have a scrap of holly or some kind of Christmas decoration on it.  And that was just the inside of the house!

 

Now, I will admit that our house was a lot smaller than Granny and Poppop's house, but 30 minutes to get out and put up ALL the decorations?

 

My husband was standing proudly by his Christmas tree...still decorated from last year.  (He started the craze of just putting a bag over the tree -lights and decorations and all- and storing it for the next year.)

 

A good wife would have smiled and made it work.   

 

My husband tells the story that he asked "Do you like it?" to which I responded with "Get that THING out of my house!"  (Not exactly how I remember it, but he's a good sport and laughs each time he tells someone the story so we'll go with his version.) 

 

And so for the past 17 years, we've gone each year to pick out a "real" Christmas tree.  I love the smell of the pine in the house and since neither he nor my daughter are into decorating, I get to put the whole tree together myself!

 

And that's part of what this season is all about...making memories.  So be sure to take time each day as you count down to Christmas Day to do something memorable.  Bake cookies, read a favorite book, watch the Christmas specials on TV with all the commercials (like we did when we were kids), make a favorite meal, decorate the table each night for dinner, make a special breakfast...simplicity makes for memorable moments.