Christmas Decorating

We don't have the outside wreaths up yet and what with high winds and then rain (again!) in the forecast for the weekend we may never get them up. The decorations for the two small artificial trees --one in Paul's bedroom and one in the living room --sit untended in the paper bag that held them in the attic since last Christmas. But our big real Fraser Fir tree is beautiful, all red and green and gold in the colors that Paul chose. This year I decided not to get out all the old ornaments , despite the fact that we've collected them since we were married and traditionally have put them up each year. Instead, this year we left most of them in the attic and bought all new ornaments from the local drugstore and Walmart, spending probably $60 for all of them. I'm toying with the idea of tossing them all when we take down the tree. I know it's scandalous but after all, we have a small house and storage is always a problem. Why not reap the full reward of having having access to cheap, fun ornaments from China by taking the easy way out and just getting rid of them once the season is over? I know it's wasteful, but our whole culture is wasteful and won't it be good for the economy to start all over again next year? (I'm already thinking of a "nature" tree with lots of little animals and birds in it.) I love the idea of tossing everything out, but I do have this feeling that it will take me a step closer to hell!

I don't have these concerns when I admire the shelf under the kitchen window, which is very pretty, though probably over crowded, with Christmas candles and knickknacks. I really love how the window reflects the big Christmas tree and I'm quite smitten with the red candle in the glass lamp. (Again, cheap and disposable from Michael's; I may be the last American to have caught what Ben calls the "Cheap, cheap, buy more" message, but I've got it with a vengeance now!)

We also have three wire lighted trees outside which are very pretty and such fun to see when we come up the driveway, though I haven't managed to get a decent photograph of any of them.

I decided several years ago that the decorating part of Christmas was something I really like, and I get a lot of pleasure from it, even in a year like this one when we aren't expecting house or dinner guests. Whatever we do is just for us, and that's fine with me!