Christmas, A Little Bit At A Time

One of my favorite things about Christmastime at our house is that it doesn't happen all at once.  Most of our decorations are packed away and in the basement, but some are more easily at hand.  It would probably not surprise you to know that they show up first around the house - the Christmas linens, the smallish items that can be packed and cushioned by being in that box as well.  We actually kind of "build" to Christmas!

A lot of our decorations are ones we have had since we have been married, with various themes - our pets, our trips, family.  And of course there are newer ones as well that we have chosen or that have been gifted to us by others.

But even before those first things mentioned above show up, this decoration is taped onto the inside of our door.

Yep, a cardboard Christmas wreath.  It's one of the first decorations we ever bought together, at our first Christmas after we were married.  It hung on the outside of our apartment door (which was inside, protected from weather) when we lived in married student housing at the University of Notre Dame, where The Tim was in graduate school, and I worked in the library.  We had neither a lot of money nor a lot of room for decorations, but were determined to make our place look Christmas-y.  Until a couple of years ago, you could see the price marked in pencil on the back (69 cents!)  Most of the year it lives in a plastic bag in the basement, with the other non-Christmas things.  When I take the few things we have for Thanksgiving to put them away, it's right there, so it's easy enough to just bring it upstairs and add it to the door - voila, Christmastime has begun!

It's showing some signs of wear (I mean, it *is* a 35-year-old paper cardboard decoration), but as long as it still looks like what it is, and doesn't smell weird, get moldy, etc., I'll hang it up.  I like hanging it on this door, with the peephole to the outside in the middle.  (Note to the NSA - festive spying is more fun!)

Is it cheap-looking?  Yes.  Cheesy.  Yes.  But it's also colorful, cheerful, in one piece, and full of Christmas memories.   And in our house, it means the festivities have begun!

Not a bad deal for 69 cents, if you ask me.

Anticipation and Celebration

December is all about anticipation for me.  Christmastime is my favorite time of the year, and I think part of it is that it's nearly an entire month of happy anticipation, followed by celebration.

A lot of people don't enjoy December, Christmastime, or anything about it. Which is up to them, though it really annoys me when they have to tell you every single time you see them or talk to them.  We all know someone who falls into this category, and we all have to listen to them, regardless of our feelings about things.

It occurred to me today that for a lot of aspects of my life, I have decided for myself the way things are, and I work hard to follow my patterns and beliefs that I have devised.  I am also good at compartmentalizing things.  For instance, when Christmas decorations go up at stores immediately after Halloween, I have no trouble ignoring them altogether.  Because Thanksgiving comes first, and should never be eclipsed by Christmas, as far as my beliefs go, so those way-too-early decorations are compartmentalized in a place where they are completely ignored.  I can then easily enjoy Halloween, anticipate and enjoy Thanksgiving, and only then give any serious attention to Christmastime.

It's all part of my own "rules" and it works for me.  I guess I enjoy holidays so much, that I don't want any of them to be cheated out of their special-ness.

This year, I'm not going to go out of my way to be rude, but I'm going to ignore the  holiday grouches.  They can be miserable, angry, frustrated, or morally superior to their hearts' content, and I am not going to stick around for it.  Life is too short to allow others with no Christmas spirit to decide the atmosphere for everyone.

Christmastime only comes around once a year.  And every bit of it is worth my time.

FO and a New [To Me] Stitch

I think I mentioned in a previous post that my knitting output this year was underwhelming.  Not that I haven't thought about a lot, I just didn't knit as many things as usual.

However, a week and one day before his birthday, The Tim said casually, "I hope you are thinking of knitting me a hat for my birthday, I could use another knit hat." Let's ignore the fact that he waited to mention this until his birthday was nearly here, and know that I was kind of excited to hear that, since I'd just seen a newly-released hat pattern I'd wanted to try.  I wasn't really convinced that I'd have it ready for his birthday, but I could at least get started.

Another thing in my favor was that I had stash yarn I could use, so I was able to cast on right away.  I got started, and was going along merrily, until my osteoarthritis flared up.  Sigh.  So I had to put things down for about three days.  Meaning that it was even less likely to be ready for the intended day.  But at this point, I wasn't going to worry about it, because it could always become a Christmas gift.

The most surprising thing is, on the weekend before the actual birthday date, I ended up getting quite a lot of it knitted - so much so that I was able to finish it the morning of the day in question!

Ta Da!

Project:  Welsh Gathers

Pattern:  Gather, by Alexa Ludeman, at Tin Can Knits

Needles:  Size US4, US6

Yarn:  Garthenor Organic Pure Wool Organic Shetland DK (received in a swap)

Modifications:  None

Comments:  This was fun to knit, as I had never done smocking stitch before, and enjoyed learning something new.  I like the look of it, and this yarn really showed it off well.  The yarn itself was really nice to work with, and made a lightweight but cozy hat.  

I called this "Welsh Gathers" since the yarn was Welsh and the pattern is called "Gather."  I made the Large size, but if I made this again, I would consider making it shorter than the pattern indicates, as it turned out to be a very long hat.  The Tim was thrilled, and just turned up the brim/ribbing, so he was happy with some extra warmth on his ears.  The pattern is very well written, and though the smocking doesn't go all the way around (as I thought it did),* the end result is really attactive.

So for something that had a questionable and shaky start, it all turned out in the end.  I don't know which one of us was more surprised!

*I'm sure I could have figured out how to get it to work so that the smocking was all around, but had neither the time or the strong desire to do so ...

Gratitude

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is though nothing is a miracle.

The other is though everything is a miracle.

-- Albert Einstein

Remember to be thankful for all of the miracles in your life, today and always.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Things

Today's Ten on Tuesday prompt is:

Ten Things I Am Thankful For

I have a lot of things to be thankful for, and I'm sure if you are reading this, you do as well.  Everyone, everywhere has something - even if not ten things they could list.  And some of the things I'm thankful for are what I think of as obvious choices (at least for me): family, food, a job, clothing on my back, etc. 

So I have decided that I am going to list ten of the little things I am thankful for, and may not think about on any regular given day.  Because they deserve some attention, too!

1.  Deodorant/toothpaste.  I know that it shouldn't matter if someone smells bad, if they are a good person, etc., and I know that this is a First World Issue, but I will admit here and now that if someone smells unpleasant, it's really hard for me to deal with them.  I can, and I do, and I've never ignored someone completely because they don't have access to deodorant and/or toothpaste.  Nonetheless, I am glad it exists, and thankful that most people use it.

2.  The fireplace in our house.  When we decided to buy a house, we made a list of things that it HAD to have, and then other things that would be nice, but are in no way necessary.  A fireplace was on the second list.  Neither of us had lived in houses with fireplaces before, so it's not like we had any expectations.  As it turned out, the house we bought has two fireplaces - one in the living room, and one in our bedroom.  Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas seem extra special and cozy because we are sitting by the fireplace, and seeing it and hearing the crackle are the best.  And with things going the way they are, I can imagine a time in the near future when use of a fireplace will not be allowed due to air pollution concerns, so I want to enjoy it while I can!

3.  Stuffing.  Yes, I could make it other times of the year, but I don't.  That's part of what makes it so special.  I would marry stuffing if I could.

4.  Seasons.  I love the changes in the seasons.  I would never want to live someplace where the weather is always the same.  Especially if that weather is always hot ... ;-)

5.  Tea.  I do drink coffee on occasion, and of course you probably know my fondness for other, er, "libations" if you are a regular reader, but next to water, the other thing I don't think I could give up completely is tea.  I am somewhat picky about the tea that I like, though not a tea snob.  But it is truly a comfort beverage for me, and does whatever I need it to do.  In the morning, it helps me feel more awake, in the evening it helps me feel relaxed, when it's iced, it quenches my thirst and helps cool me off.  I might have to divorce stuffing and marry tea instead ...

6.  Music.  Even if I am just singing to myself in my head, music is a constant companion, and always has been.

7.  Words.  Language.  Without it, there would be no books, poetry, lyrics, etc.  There are few things more wonderful than well-placed, well-written sentences or phrases.  

8.  Senses.  I am so fortunate to have all of my senses functioning.  It makes me realize that the world is more fantastic than I can ever truly realize.

9.  Laughter.  A world where I couldn't laugh or hear others laugh would not be worth living in, in my opinion.

10. Animals.  All of them, even those I may not like as much as others, or that scare me.  But seeing a bird in a tree, or even seeing the occasional rat in the park* is reassuring to me.  I like knowing that the universe is not just about people.

And there you go.  They may be "little" in some ways, but all of these things are as important to me as the big things.

May all of us have a good combination of the two in our lives!

*Please note: I do not seek out rats in the park, any more than they do me.  And, I do not have any desire to invite one home.  I just think it's good that they have someplace to be rats ...