On the Second Day of Decorating...

I'm taking a little break. I was up at 7:30, and the first thing I did was iron the runner for the dining room table and finish that. I decided to put what I call "the 1910 tree" in the middle of the table. This is dicey because, while the ornaments are secure, the bead garland falls off if you breathe funny. Will just need to be careful.

Have the divider items and "Schuyler's things" and the console table in the hall packed up, the console cleaned and ready for the Rudolph tree, and the divider decorated, with the snow garland and "Bandit's angels" and the stockings hung.

I'm taking the break because I took the entry carpet out and beat it, then washed the foyer floor after I started a load of towels. It's positively tropical out and at that point it was only 10:45. Wish Florida would keep its freepin' weather to itself!

I'm feeling headachy and groggy today because it was so warm last night I had trouble falling asleep. I finally had to pull the comforter back and use the light fleece instead, and then later I got cold, but just around my shoulders. I guess after the dreams I had Sunday night about the reorganization at work—I would have preferred dreams about killer zombies; it would have been less scary—I wasn't in a hurry to fall asleep.

While the floor dries I'll glean ideas for the Christmas letter to go in the cards. They're all written out. Knock on wood, when I go to the Prim Lady's sale on Friday, if I can get the letter written and printed, I can mail the cards. But there's still the packages... ::weeps::

Probably need to change into tank top and shorts to continue the decorating, though.


The Gift of Christmas, edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark
Yes, as you can tell from the editors' names, it's a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book of brief, inspirational Christmas stories, the newest one.

I consider these perfect books for bedtime. You can read a story or two, or half a dozen to a dozen if you are so inclined, and fall asleep feeling good about people. Not every story has a happy ending—Mom or Dad die of cancer, life goes on with its inevitable conclusions, but people are still uplifted by faith and it's comforting. My favorite story in this volume is about the adorable little boy who wanted "soft sheets" like his Mom's; yes, his best Christmas gift that year was high-thread-count sheets! It really stood out among the children wanting more conventional gifts like dolls and trucks!

Humorous stories are mixed amongst the more sentimental fare, so the sweetness level is tempered.

If you're a "Chicken Soup" type person, you'll enjoy this.



(Later: Didn't get a whole lot more done. The library was very dusty and I would not put the shelf decorations up without dusting them first. Did get the foyer decorated and also put the lighthouse vignette up, put the lights and lighthouse in the bathroom, and ironed all the surface covers. I started to put up the library tree, but at least seven lights are out. I either need to break down and get a new set of lights or get replacement bulbs. The shelf for the village is upstairs, but it was suppertime by then and I was just too wiped out.)