It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's starting to look like Christmas at my house, albeit slowly. I feel so far behind on things this year. We almost didn't put up a tree and I am pretty close to calling it quits on the Christmas cards. I have mailed only one. I hate to do that, but it's not been the typical holiday for us this year so I just need to adjust my standards.

Nevertheless, I did manage to shop for the family that we adopted at work and I finished shopping for my senior citizen. I bought everything on her list, including the red socks she wanted! (which was why I picked her) And she got several surprises too. The only part that is hard is being anonymous. I wish I could meet her.

We went to Chick-fil-A the other day which is one of my favorite fast food places. While I was staring at the ad for their new chocolate chip peppermint milkshake and telling myself I did not NEED it, a guy walks up and hands me a coupon for a free chocolate chip peppermint milkshake. Talk about divine intervention. LOL! I think this is the coupon karma coming back to me as I am always handing out coupons to people in line at Hobby Lobby and Michael's when I have an extra one.

Here are some pictures of a gorgeous wreath that my friend Lisa made for me in "grinch green" colors. I took these at night and wasn't sure how they would turn out. I love the glow of the lights in the first picture. And aren't the red spirals in the wreath cool? She did a fantastic job!

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!