Christmas Countdown - 2017

[made582]

I never showed you all the beautiful village they have set up at the nursing home...I could stare at it for hours.


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Beautiful!!

 

[made582]

Good Afternoon .. The morning went by very quick for me, taking a late lunch today. Ran to Hallmark during the first part of my lunch break as it is just around the corner from work and scored several ornaments for 75% off. Got each of the kids 3 new ornaments, got a new one for DH and myself. Going to tuck them away until next Christmas. There is another Hallmark store down the road so I may stop there tomorrow to see if they have any different ones.

Well lunch break is over .. have a great day!

Congrats on the deals!!! It'll be may before we see any markdowns at ours.

 

[made582]

Hope you find a good hiding spot.....AND share some of that snow with me! Have a good day made!

Right in front of the heater!!!

You can have all of it as far as I'm concerned!! Lol!!!

 

[made582]

I hope everyone has had a good year so far. Happy Wednesday, all!
My boss's son is getting his Bar Mitzvah this Saturday, and the office girls are all invited. We (all 3 of us) remember when this kid was born, and we went to the Bris (circumcision in the Synagogue). He's 13 now. My gosh, how time flies. And I'm excited about seeing my first Bar Mitzvah!

On a sadder note, those who remember me posting here and there about my Mom know that she was troubled with early, then moderate, Alzheimer's. My sister and I held out as long as we could, but we finally had to put Mom in an assisted living. She was falling often, and we found out that she wasn't doing a lot of things that she said she was doing. She fell so much at the end that we went the extreme route of putting her in the home as soon as they were ready for her....which was three days before Christmas. Our family and friends were very supportive, and no one was upset at the bad timing, but still I wish it could have been different. The first couple of days she was there were hell on earth, and it was like Christmas never happened this year. But I think we finally have the bumps ironed out, and hopefully we can go forward with the new year in a more hopeful frame of mind. For my own part, it's a relief not having to worry while I am at work (a necessity for us) if Mom is eating, has fallen, is letting strangers in the house, etc. etc. The home is very nice too, and it's people my Doctor-boss works with, so that makes life easier too.

I know there's a lot a work ahead of us. We have to clean out her house and (huge) shed and sell the property, eventually. But that's in the future, and right now I'm enjoying a little bit of peace and quiet.

Oh wait.....my husband's off work for two weeks vacation. Scratch the peace and quiet.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom but it sounds like you did what was in her best interest.

Lol!! I hope your husband enjoys his vacation and that you have fun at the bar mitzvah!!

 

[DoYouHearWhatIHear]

I hope everyone has had a good year so far. Happy Wednesday, all!
My boss's son is getting his Bar Mitzvah this Saturday, and the office girls are all invited. We (all 3 of us) remember when this kid was born, and we went to the Bris (circumcision in the Synagogue). He's 13 now. My gosh, how time flies. And I'm excited about seeing my first Bar Mitzvah!

On a sadder note, those who remember me posting here and there about my Mom know that she was troubled with early, then moderate, Alzheimer's. My sister and I held out as long as we could, but we finally had to put Mom in an assisted living. She was falling often, and we found out that she wasn't doing a lot of things that she said she was doing. She fell so much at the end that we went the extreme route of putting her in the home as soon as they were ready for her....which was three days before Christmas. Our family and friends were very supportive, and no one was upset at the bad timing, but still I wish it could have been different. The first couple of days she was there were hell on earth, and it was like Christmas never happened this year. But I think we finally have the bumps ironed out, and hopefully we can go forward with the new year in a more hopeful frame of mind. For my own part, it's a relief not having to worry while I am at work (a necessity for us) if Mom is eating, has fallen, is letting strangers in the house, etc. etc. The home is very nice too, and it's people my Doctor-boss works with, so that makes life easier too.

I know there's a lot a work ahead of us. We have to clean out her house and (huge) shed and sell the property, eventually. But that's in the future, and right now I'm enjoying a little bit of peace and quiet.

Oh wait.....my husband's off work for two weeks vacation. Scratch the peace and quiet.

I work as a retirement community chaplain-I've seen a lot of those transitions, and a lot of people who waited too long and worse happened. You did the right thing it sounds like. I'm glad you're taking some time to enjoy peace and quiet. Things will get done in their own time. I hope things settle down soon and she adjusts and finds it's a great place! And I hope you all adjust soon as well. You're a great daughter it sounds like. Hope 2017 is a wonderful year for you and yours!

 

[Crown 84]

Been listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack the last two days to uplift the spirits.

Amazing how it brings back such vivid childhood holiday memories.
Even more amazing I now get to share those with my 5 year old daughter.
But most amazing I can freely admit it here in this forum!!!

Admit? Celebrate it! I love that soundtrack, too.
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is timeless. It will be successfully passed from generation to generation.

 

[merrymistletoe]

Good evening yall! Well I searched for a new recipe for chicken buto decided to scratch that & went with salmon patties.
My hubby & I found a few items after Christmas on mark down. We got a few ornaments, net lights for the shrubs, & some more outdoor stuff. Great deals!
I recognize several names from the countdown I remember from b4 but there's lots of new 1s. So many of us love the season don't we?

 

[SydneyBeems]

Admit? Celebrate it! I love that soundtrack, too.
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is timeless. It will be successfully passed from generation to generation.

Well put!! (both celebrating it and it's timelessness) Something about the nostalgia of xmas that always hits home

 

[noodlenoggin]

(((Hugs))) I think many can relate to how you feel. It will take some time but like you say there will come a point when you will be able to shrug it off. I think it helps to talk about how you feel and spend time here.

Thanks for that. It definitely does help being able to talk about it openly. That's why I love this forum so much.

I'll get through it. Was just having that first realization last night that it is indeed just about completely over.

 

[noodlenoggin]

I understand this! (((HUGS))) Hopefully MMC will help to fill that void!

It does help fill that void. For an internet community it really stands as something that is important not just for me but for most people who come here. Thanks for the response. I appreciate hearing back from people who understand what I'm talking about.

 

[DoYouHearWhatIHear]

Hey friends! I hope you all are having a great day and a great 2017! I am really enjoying the start to the new year, even with challenges and being tired. There's a new energy in my life and I love it. Christmas tree will come down this weekend but until then I'm enjoying the beautiful lights and ornaments! Lights will stay around the living room until the spring to keep the light around!!

 

[Edge612]

Thanks for that. It definitely does help being able to talk about it openly. That's why I love this forum so much.

I'll get through it. Was just having that first realization last night that it is indeed just about completely over.

Great thing about MMC is as one Christmas season "ends" we start preparing and getting excited for the next one. I used to start thinking about Christmas in like September. Now I think about it all year long thanks to this place.

 

[noodlenoggin]

You know Noodle..when I was a young Marine and trying to find my place and earn respect. A Gunny took me to the side and said.."Never deny or pretend you are something that you are not" over the years I instilled this thought into every man/woman that came under my charge. Alot of PCB's are brought on because the world has moved on from Christmas and you arent ready to yet. So media, peer pressure,family say its time? Now that old Gunny that had the talk with me meant a completely different meaning than I did with my people. You walk into my house and you can find some form of Christmas any time of the year. I dont care what people think. I say there is alot of worse things in this world you could be interested in than Christmas! Ultimately you find your own way to not deny who you are in this life,whether people accept it or not. And are they truly your friend if they cant accept it?

Thanks Gunny. I definitely appreciate what you have to say about it. And I agree. I've accepted who I am and that this is something that means a great deal to me regardless of what anyone else thinks. I guess it's just hard sometimes accepting that not many other people feel it as strongly. No matter how little you care what others think of you there's still that somewhat lonely feeling that not many others see it the way you do. Which is what brought me here to MMC so that I can have these discussions openly with people who get it.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Thank you so much for this post. It always seemed to me that people place too much importance on what other people think of them. Everyone should be their own person, enjoy their own interests, and rest on their own merits.

It's not so much placing an importance on what others think as much as it is just that feeling of being alone when you're the only one still in the spirit of the holidays when everyone else has moved on.

But I guess it's inevitable. Cuz if you think about it, lets say everybody did keep it going until well into January. Well all that would mean for people like us is that we would just extend it even longer, we would embrace the season with everyone else no matter how long it lasts, but then the post season blues would still come no matter when it ends. The things we discuss now in the beginning of January about missing it and not wanting it to go away are the things we would simply discuss in late January/early February if that was the case.

So I guess looking at it like that all we can do is laugh at ourselves and the silliness of it all.

 

[made582]

Good evening yall! Well I searched for a new recipe for chicken buto decided to scratch that & went with salmon patties.
My hubby & I found a few items after Christmas on mark down. We got a few ornaments, net lights for the shrubs, & some more outdoor stuff. Great deals!
I recognize several names from the countdown I remember from b4 but there's lots of new 1s. So many of us love the season don't we?

Salmon patties? I'll pass. Lol!!

 

[Martine]

Happy New Year Festive!!! Christmas was real nice. It worked out well at my nieces. It was a bummer that mom was in the hospital, hopefully next year she'll be home & well! I think everyone was there except mom & 1 of my nephews, his wife & baby.
How was your Christmas?

How is your mother doing Holiday? I'm sure that she got great care at the hospital, hope she is doing much better.

 

[Martine]

I never showed you all the beautiful village they have set up at the nursing home...I could stare at it for hours.


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Awesome! I love villages but we don't put one up. I remember when I was little, my mom had these cardboard-type houses through which you ran lights and she would put cardboard boxes covered with fake snow to create a village under the tree.

 

[noodlenoggin]

I understand this. There are lots of fun days in the year, but they're just not Christmas time. It's such a let down to have to take down your decorations and admit that the holidays are over for now.

And eventually you do get on with life and don't even think about the fact that it's not the holidays anymore. Well, at least not lamenting over it.

It just never ceases to amaze me this time of year, and I mean specifically this first and second week of January, how you can look back and just a mere two, three, four weeks ago everything was ablaze with Holiday cheer. That full-ness to each day was ever present just by way of it being in the month of December. And now it's just not here. It's just not the same.

The best we can do now is to just try and recreate what it was like and remember those days when they were here.

 

[noodlenoggin]

I'm sorry, Noodle, I know the PCBs can be tough. I used to have a real problem with it, too. But spending time here really has given me an appreciation for anticipation. I'm looking forward to Christmas in July!

Great thing about MMC is as one Christmas season "ends" we start preparing and getting excited for the next one. I used to start thinking about Christmas in like September. Now I think about it all year long thanks to this place.

Yea, I definitely gotta say that becoming a member of this forum made the PCB's much easier to deal with. It was in the midst of a particularly deep post holiday season depression that I discovered this forum. And I'm really glad I did. For an internet community it is really something. It's the only place in my life, as I am sure it is for many others here, where I can truly and openly express my love for the holidays with people who are supportive of it and understand it. It's one thing to have someone be supportive of something in your life but still not really see it the way you do. To have people around who do both is amazing, and that's what we get here at MMC.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Well thanks for the support and the replies to my posts from yesterday. It just sort of hit me for the first time last night and I started feeling a bit depressed at how its becoming increasingly difficult to justify thinking it's still the holidays. I guess we've now entered that nostalgic-for-the-holiday season-that-just-passed phase.

It's great being a part of this community of people who are so supportive and understanding of each other's love for the holiday season.

It's good to know others have plans to keep their decorations up a bit longer as well. I'm planning to have mine up until at least Sunday night. I took a drive around town today and quite a few homes are still decorated with Santas, snowmen, reindeer, wreaths, and lights. So it doesn't feel too barren out there just yet. And I don't feel quite as alone in keeping mine up a bit longer. And I'll throw on some DVR recordings from last month in the evenings just to remember that feeling of what it was like this past season.

Tomorrow the band-aid gets ripped off when my three trees get picked up for trash pickup. I still have one mid-size one up I'll keep up a few more days. Then come Monday I'll be able take everything down and start getting back to my old routine.