Christmas is Coming!

Here we are 3 weeks from Christmas and I am starting to get some of the decorations out. I have a love/hate relationship with my decorations. Through the years the decorations have multiplied even though I am constantly editing them. I have a whole area of the storage room devoted to boxes of these decorations. I like the idea of putting them all up and looking at each one but in reality they start to make me nervous and I can't wait until the day after Christmas when I can put them all away. I don't like the clutter. I don't like the change. I never move my furniture once I think it is perfect. I have so many beautiful decorations that people I love have given me and made for me so I have a guilty feeling if I don't display them. This year if you come to my house and don't see one of your gifts, please forgive me. I am trying to like a few things out rather than overwhelm myself. I really like my Christmas China that I collected for years. I really like my Willow Tree Nativity. I like the needlepoint stockings hung by the fireplace, one for each member of the family. I like the nutcracker Connie and David got me from Germany and a few ceramics and that is all I am putting up this year. We will put up the tree maybe next week as we will have a real one and I worry about the fire danger. Am I a scrooge? No, I realized this year that other things are more important to me. If my family misses a certain decoration, please tell me and I will get it out. I don't know if anyone but me really notices anyway. What do I like about this time of year? I love the food, the music, the candy making, the guests, the skis, all the paraphernalia that goes with skiing, the winter clothes, the parties, the concerts, the cards, the presents and most of all family. So this year, I will concentrate on these things and not the clutter of decorations in every nook and cranny. Now this does not mean I don't like to see other's decorations, so decorate away.