I think I say this just about every year, but I really mean it this year: It truly has flown by for Mom and me.
Between the extensive crawl space renovation project, which got drawn out a lot longer than I thought it would due primarily to permitting issues, a few health scares including a foot issue mom had over the summer, my sister and I both catching COVID soon after, and a few other odds and end things that have gone on, 2024 has been mostly a blur.
The closer we got to the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season, the more antsy I started to get, thinking about the stresses and strains that both can bring on depending on how full your calendar is.
SEE ALSO: The Holiday Decorating Conundrum: Go All in or Keep It Simple?
But as November arrived and then Mom got some encouraging news at her follow-up appointment with her medical oncologist, something in me changed. I began to make mental notes and soon after, I started writing down my ideas for Christmas decorating and other things to do to get ahead of the game before the official Christmas holiday crunch began.
This past weekend, I did something I've never done before, not at my house when I had it and not here at Mom's: I took down all the autumn/Thanksgiving decorations early outside of the front door wreath and garden flags, got out the Christmas bins (enough to perhaps make even the Biltmore Estate do a double take), and proceeded to go ahead and get the house spruced up with Christmas decor on the mantle, table tops, the wall, my office, and the bedrooms.
I even got some new sets of net lights at Home Depot a couple of days ago and removed the old ones that didn't work anymore off the front yard bush, which is now "dressed up" and lit up for the holiday season, complete with brand new outside dusk to down timer outlet (you NEED one of these things if you don't have one for your outdoor lights/plug-in decorations!).
The only thing left to put up is the tree, the outside flags, and the front door wreath.
For reference, here's how the cashmere Christmas tree I got from Walmart looked last year after I finally felt well enough to decorate it:
At long last, the #Christmas tree is now decorated! #MerryChristmas #holidays 🎁🎄 pic.twitter.com/d13LwSnSZ4
— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) December 17, 2023
And when all the presents were put underneath it:
Wishing everyone a joyous, healthy, and warm #Christmas filled with love and light! #MerryChristmas #holidays #family 🎄🎅🏻🎁💫 pic.twitter.com/FO4CZlCegg
— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) December 25, 2023
In the past, I was one of those people who was a stick in the mud about waiting until after Thanksgiving to start on the Christmas stuff. But two things changed my mind this year, I think: The fact that we have a "shorter" than normal Christmas season (at least it seems that way to me) and I wanted Mom and me to be able to enjoy the Christmas season for as long as possible considering in 2023 I was sick the first two weeks of December and got behind on everything.
My December 2023 cold really put a damper on things because I had planned on making things look really nice and festive for Mom since it was her first post-chemo Christmas. It didn't look bad once I was able to get it all done but it still wasn't quite the way I wanted it to be.
This year, assuming neither of us gets sick, things are going to be different in a good way.
In addition to the Christmas decorating, I'm already planning out gifts to give and am encouraging Mom and my sisters to go ahead and make their Secret Santa lists so we can begin our shopping sooner rather than later. Further, for the first time in three years, I am thinking I might finally be at a place where I can finally start sending out Christmas cards again. I haven't done that outside of immediate family since 2021 and have really missed sending and receiving cards.
And just to confirm that I have an unusual extra pep in my step, I'm actually giving some serious thought to doing some cookie baking to give to family, friends, neighbors, and delivery drivers. This is something I rarely ever do because I'm usually stressed to the max like most other people are trying to take care of the other 101 things on my to-do list.
So, yes, I'm happily embracing the stresses of the holiday season this year. We have so much to be thankful for, so many blessings to thank God for, and I'm truly looking forward to savoring every second of it.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving, y'all!
