Getting Ready for the Holidays

For lots of reasons, I have been a little slow in getting into the holiday spirit lately. My friend Lisa and I went out to lunch for our very favorite salad and did some retail therapy shopping last week. She gave me some fun holiday socks and a beautiful gold fleur de lis ornament for my tree.

I found a really fun item to keep me in the spirit at work. These star lights plug into the USB port on your computer. The lights change random colors every few seconds. I love having these plugged in all day at work! I think they are the coolest.
My friend Mary suggested that I adopt an elderly person off the Christmas "angel" tree at Kmart. What a great idea! I always associated that with kids during the holidays. But what a great idea to help out an older person. While I was in WalMart last night, I spotted a tree just for the elderly called "Be A Santa to a Senior." I read every person's name and list at least twice, then selected a lady named Patricia. It was interesting to see what types of things they listed. Most were necessities like house slippers, sheets, towels, postage stamps, etc. The lady I selected asked for a pair of red socks (which made me smile), postage stamps, red dish towels, thank you cards and a Kroger gift certificate.

We also adopted a family that is in the same part of town as our office. My coworkers and I have been busy buying for those children and their mother. We do this every year and it's always a good feeling.

We finally put up our tree with the assistance of our new kitty Jack, who has the energy of a toddler on Red Bull. In the picture below, he is actually up in the tree, adjusting an ornament. Well, actually playing with it. I think he feels each ornament is his own personal playtoy, put there for his enjoyment. I am amazed each day that there are not piles of ornaments on the floor.


Our tree finally set up. It will look much better when I get all my gifts wrapped!