Whatever happened to the rest of the year? Do you find that time zipped past so fast that the growth rate of your grandchildren are your only clues that this happened?

I was asked the other day–by a lady who is so organized that she had already set up her two fully decorated real trees and had done her massive amount of baking—“Are you ready for Christmas?”. Thank goodness, my friend had a sense of humor and had answered the question that her tree would be decorated Christmas eve by her family coming from out-of-town. As for me and my family of collectable gnomes, I asked, “Does putting a sprig of holly on Simon’s hat count?” Simon is my woodland gnome.

At least, one saving grace this Christmas is the lack of postal lineups and the cards sent to family and friends. But the downside of that is the time saved on this task did not spread to other tasks. I found that I liked writing personal notes on my cards to family and friends who are far away. AND if you ever received a card with just a signature, it means you’re off their list next year because they can’t remember who you are and why you rate a card. But that’s okay–I already eliminated them from my list as I couldn’t remember who and why either.

I love the Christmas lights. It’s really pretty driving home when it’s dark seeing The Village and boulevards all lit up. The workmen had been busy weeks before, stringing up lights in impossibly high places while other busy elves placed lights around all the store-fronts and doorways of the Village businesses. The lampposts at the beginning and at the end of the Village route, were also wrapped in lights .. The candy cane lights were actually three canes, each holding a lighted ornament. . .

Shop windows and indoor displays are always a favorite of mine. It’s amazing to see the creativity of the merchants’ front windows. I like to see the bits and pieces as well as the whole picture. . . .

I don’t know about you but the more Christmases I go through, I learned this one truth. Don’t panic and just go with the flow. It only took me a few decades to figure that out. When I’m organized, a number of things can go wrong like the year the power went off as the turkey was cooking. That’s when you know Murphy’s law is about to fall on your head. Now I bake for our visitors and I put up a few Holiday decorations.

Hubby and I are ready–at least as ready as can be. Meanwhile I get to wish all of my Readers, a very Joyous Holiday Season. May your homes be blessed with the laughter and love of Family and Friends. May all your dreams and wishes come true in 2025.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANNUKAH! and a HAPPY, HEALTHY 2025!