Monday, December 14, 2015

Christmas Joy Bloghop




This blog hop is brought to you by Liz's Random Ponderings. Let's see, what brings me joy at Christmas?

1. Getting the tree.

When I was a kid, we had a fake tree, but I loved it anyway. My husband, on the other hand, would traipse out to the woods with his family, cut down an actual tree, and chop off the top of it to drag back. These days, we compromise, traipsing about the local nursery, until we find the perfect Frasier Fir. (Our first time around, I insisted on a Blue Spruce, which is pretty, but its needles are deadly sharp.) 

Once home, our kid dance around, fighting over who gets to cut off the plastic mesh that holds the branches together, who gets to hang the first ornament, who gets to hang the fanciest ornament, and where the ornaments that they made get to hang. While they argue, I sneak around, rearranging the ornaments to my liking until they catch me. Then they holler to put everything back and just who do I think I am, the Queen of England? (No, but I am the Queen of Ornaments, and there will be an even distribution of color, shape, and sizes so help me!)

I have an image, but Blogger is being Grinchy this morning.

2. Snow.

Up here in Rochester, NY, we are almost guaranteed to have a white Christmas. No so this year. Right now it's sixty degrees and there's not a flake in sight (except me). There is something exquisitely wonderful about being the last person awake, turning off the Christmas tree lights, going to the window, and watching the snow silently drift down in the light of the street lamp before going to bed. 

3. Going home.

We made the mistake of staying put for our daughter's first Christmas. After opening up her gifts, our baby fell into a deep sleep and my husband and I just sat around thinking, "Hmm. This is boring." No more of that! From then on, we traveled to see my parents, his parents, and all our siblings. I love being in my mother's house, eating all the yummy things she makes, and being overwhelmed by all the presents she gets for my family. It makes me feel like a kid again. 

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!


34 comments:

  1. I've only had a white Christmas three times. One of those was technically a frozen Christmas, too.

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  2. How cute with you moving around the ornaments :) When my kids were younger, my philosophy was let them hang in where they want; I just balanced out the tree to make sure front and back were covered. When they were done decorating, so was I, so sometimes it was a less than decorated tree; sometimes overflowing :)

    Snowed this morning where we are at; good thing about living at 5000 feet plus in altitude; when the sun comes out, it dries pretty quickly :)

    Merry Christmas!

    betty

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  3. Merry Christmas, Tamara!
    I hope my daughter says those things about me and my house this year when she arrives on Christmas Day! Music to my ears! Queen of Ornaments made me laugh...my husband calls me the princess from time to time because I love the details! I enjoyed your post and thank you for visiting me!

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  4. I bow to you, oh Queen of the Ornaments!

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  5. I have many memories of Christmas trees from my childhood. The typical story that repeated year after year goes like this: My father went into the woods, on skis, with an axe, and cut down a Christmas tree. When he came home, my mother always yelled at him because the tree was too tall, too short, too narrow, too wide, too sparse, too ... there was always something wrong with the damn tree.

    Cold As Heaven

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  6. Family gatherings always make our day better as well - Merry Christmas!

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  7. I love that you have to rearrange the ornaments. My mom simply would not let us decorate until she felt we were old enough to place the ornaments correctly. She taught me well. Nothing bothers me more than an ornament that doesn't hang properly:) I know what you mean about the snow. I live near Niagara Falls (Canada) and this warm weather sucks. One year, my brother and I were bummed since there was no snow. On Christmas Eve it was raining and warm. We celebrate Christmas Eve. After dinner, we all gathered around the tree and started unwrapping the gifts. Half-way through we took a break and we glanced outside to see 5 inches of beautiful snow! It was perfect! Let's keep our fingers crossed. Oh I looked at your question of the month and agree with you 150% I work with the public and don't want to shake their hands. Ick! Give me the Asian style of bowing any day

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  8. I love christmas trees, ornaments, snow, everyone being so full of festive spirit and happy but the best part has got to be the giving and receiving of presents, it proves we're only human and love surprises.

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  9. When I was a kid, my dad took me out to a local tree farm where we picked out and cut our own tree. My husband, however, is a fan of fake trees, so that's what we do now.

    I live in Iowa, and it's been raining the last three days. We're dealing with flooding right now, which is not normal at all for this time of year. The weather has definitely been a bit off-kilter.

    Merry Christmas!

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  10. We always had a real tree when I was a kid and we did the nursery thing when my kids were younger. We go with fake now but the decorating time is much like your even though the kids are all in their 20's. I hope my children continue to visit every Christmas like you do.

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  11. Tammy, Glad you still keep up this blog. Refound it kind of by accident. Would love to know what is new in your writing life.

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  12. Great post. #2 is exactly how I remember some of my best Christmases up in New England. If you have ever watched The Christmas Story and that last scene where they are sitting looking out at the snow and he turns out the light. It just gives me goosebumps.

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  13. We used to pick out a real Christmas tree every year, but with cats and shedding needles it became more and more of a hassle, so we now use a fake tree. My brother and I used to argue over ornament placement when we were kids. Oklahoma weather has been strange this month, I hope it gets cold enough to snow, because I also enjoy watching the snow falling, it's so soft and silent :)

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  14. Merry Christmas, Tamara! I think the snow is coming. A Colorado low is coming through. It will probably hit you as well.

    I love going home for Christmas. The getting there part isn't fun, but it wouldn't seem like Christmas without seeing my parents.

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    Replies
    1. I know what you mean. I dread the airline travel part.

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    2. Normally I like being on planes, but this trip is particularly hellish and involves a plane the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.

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    3. Yikes. Good luck and good weather for that!

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  15. We've had a real tree a few years here and there, but we usually have a fake one. And most of the traveling to see family happens a few days before Christmas.

    Anyway, merry Christmas.

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  16. You never know, snow might come for Christmas. I enjoyed your post. It has me wishing I was in someone's else house right now eating their freshly baked cookies. :-)
    Merry Christmas!

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