Christmastime is here...

The minute I started to feel less nauseous and achy, I began to panic over the impending holiday. Mom says I am being silly because I still have plenty of time (at least, that's what she said a week ago, now probably not so much) but as someone who usually has all the cards in the mail and presents wrapped by December first (I know, I know, annoying) I am officially in Panic Mode.

I sent out the change of address cards last week. I had them addressed and stamped before we moved so of course could not find them after the chaos of moving day. Grrr. My mother asked me why I didn't just put the new address on my Christmas cards (good question) but what can I say? I am anal. And in my world, the two needed to be separate. I sent change of address postcards to waaaaaay more people than I send Christmas cards to anyway. So there's that.

So my Christmas cards are lying around, waiting to be addressed. I am only halfway finished with the presents for friends and family and panicking over that because these things need to be mailed. Last year, even if I had been late in shopping, it wouldn't have mattered since the gifts would be exchanged on or near Christmas morning.

Jonny and I put up the tree last night. Finally. And it is so pretty. He bought a new one at Lowes, one of the ones that are pre-lit and WOW, is all we can both say about that. He used to take hours, h-o-u-r-s to string all of the lights on the tree every year, because every branch had to be lit just so. This year, he took the tree out of the box and within 20 minutes we were hanging ornaments! Crazy! We listened to the old Johnny Mathis Christmas CD he stole from his parents when he moved out and that we listen to every year while decorating the tree. And we both had several moments where we got choked up -- over missing our parents and realizing that this is the first Christmas in our lives where he will not see his parents and I will not see my Dad. And when we unwrapped the little ornament of a black lab because that damn punkass Hank ran away just before Christmas two years ago.

I am going to put up our old tree in the family room today. With all of the kids ornaments and colored lights. They helped us put their ornaments on the new tree last night, and after they went to bed I took them off (they were basically all clustered together on 2 branches at the bottom anyway) so they could put them on their own tree. This way we will have a tree in the dining room, with all of the breakable ornaments since we are not in there very often and then the "fun" tree downstairs in the room where we spend most of our time. Because otherwise we had waaaaaay too many ornaments on the tree upstairs. And the kids get to hang their ornaments twice. Don't know what I'll do tomorrow when they expect to hang ornaments yet again, but we'll deal with that tomorrow...

Jonny and I have decided not to really get much for each other this year. What with the house renovation expenses and then we bought ourselves a present last week: 2 leather club chairs for our breakfast nook. Since we only have one dining room table, the breakfast nook in the kitchen has been empty and I decided I would rather have 2 large leather chairs and a small end table there than another dining table and chairs. I figure if we had two tables, our dining room would only be used once or twice a year, but if I have 2 large, comfy chairs in my kitchen I can curl up there in the mornings with my coffee and a book and that would just be such a luxury. So these chairs were on sale at Target

and we went ahead and ordered them as our big Christmas gift to each other and I cannot wait for them to arrive! We will just exchange stockings and watch the kids open all of their presents from Santa and sit in our chairs Christmas morning and that will be enough.