When is the right time?
Here's a burning question for everyone: when is the right time to put up your Christmas tree?
Last night when I arrived home from school PC had brought up the Christmas tree box and set it in the living room. I came home, took one look at it, and thought to myself - its too early to put the tree up (actually my first thought was - what the hell is that box doing in the living room? - but I kept that part to myself).
I would ideally like to wait until after the 1st of December, but even at that I wonder if its too early. I think part of my problem is that when I was younger we always got a real tree, and my Mother never put it up until around the 20th ever year, in order preserve the needles long enough to get through Christmas day. Now that we have an artifical tree, it seems like it can go up at anytime and I just don't know when that anytime is...!
The other thing that has me debating the issue is the fact that in downtown Embrun, you would think Christmas was this weekend. Everyone has their outdoor Christmas lights up and turned on, and half the town even has their trees up - honestly, when the French see an opportunity to decorate... they don't hold back (I personally believe those inflatable lawn ornament snowmen and santa clauses were invented for the French, but that's a whole other rant)!
PC was the first on the street to put up the lights this year... (we were sick of being in last - last year we knew all the neighbours were thinking 'god damn englishmen')... we put them up but said we wouldn't turn them on until the 1st of December. But of course, the following weekend after PC had done his job, everyone had their lights up and turned on by the 17th of November, so we were forced to turn them this week in order to keep up with the Jones, or should I say the Benoîts!
At any rate... the outdoor lights are up and on (and they look great... I will take some pictures soon!), but I feel a bit different at the inside of the house. While the tree is lovely when its up, I have to rearrange the furniture a bit and things end of up out of place (and we all know how I feel when things are out of order). The entire Christmas decorating thing is fun, but its a bit of chore, you have to find places to store your everyday things for a month (and if your my mother, come January you have to remember where exactly you decided to store those things).
It boils down to a question of when do I have the time to do all of this? This past weekend would have been a prime opportunity, but since I took the time to do absolutely NOTHING, and I will be curling for the next two weekends, its looking like I will have to choose a week-night, which compromises my 'lay on the couch and watch tv' schedule.
Ahhh.... should I just do it tonight, and stop my bitching, or should I hold out until after the first of December? Decisions, decisions.... what time is the right time in your household?
Last night when I arrived home from school PC had brought up the Christmas tree box and set it in the living room. I came home, took one look at it, and thought to myself - its too early to put the tree up (actually my first thought was - what the hell is that box doing in the living room? - but I kept that part to myself).
I would ideally like to wait until after the 1st of December, but even at that I wonder if its too early. I think part of my problem is that when I was younger we always got a real tree, and my Mother never put it up until around the 20th ever year, in order preserve the needles long enough to get through Christmas day. Now that we have an artifical tree, it seems like it can go up at anytime and I just don't know when that anytime is...!
The other thing that has me debating the issue is the fact that in downtown Embrun, you would think Christmas was this weekend. Everyone has their outdoor Christmas lights up and turned on, and half the town even has their trees up - honestly, when the French see an opportunity to decorate... they don't hold back (I personally believe those inflatable lawn ornament snowmen and santa clauses were invented for the French, but that's a whole other rant)!
PC was the first on the street to put up the lights this year... (we were sick of being in last - last year we knew all the neighbours were thinking 'god damn englishmen')... we put them up but said we wouldn't turn them on until the 1st of December. But of course, the following weekend after PC had done his job, everyone had their lights up and turned on by the 17th of November, so we were forced to turn them this week in order to keep up with the Jones, or should I say the Benoîts!
At any rate... the outdoor lights are up and on (and they look great... I will take some pictures soon!), but I feel a bit different at the inside of the house. While the tree is lovely when its up, I have to rearrange the furniture a bit and things end of up out of place (and we all know how I feel when things are out of order). The entire Christmas decorating thing is fun, but its a bit of chore, you have to find places to store your everyday things for a month (and if your my mother, come January you have to remember where exactly you decided to store those things).
It boils down to a question of when do I have the time to do all of this? This past weekend would have been a prime opportunity, but since I took the time to do absolutely NOTHING, and I will be curling for the next two weekends, its looking like I will have to choose a week-night, which compromises my 'lay on the couch and watch tv' schedule.
Ahhh.... should I just do it tonight, and stop my bitching, or should I hold out until after the first of December? Decisions, decisions.... what time is the right time in your household?
Labels: Christmas
posted by SC at 11:19 AM
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