Christmas preparation...or lack thereof...

For the second year in a row we're using a Christmas tree poster as a stand in for our artificial tree. The reason is due to our big grand pup who seems to now be living with us on a permanent basis...if our boy is reading this, are you even still trying to re-home him? The grand pup is a 40 pound Texas Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog/Australian Shepard mix) who tends to occasionally fly through the house at full speed and slides into various furniture pieces when trying to stop from a game of "chase/toss the toy" (he slings the toy in the air without regard to what it may end up hitting) or in some cases "let's see how much I can piss off the little dogs" (aka "chase the little dog until he/she starts growling and biting at me"). Such inability to effectively put on the brakes or understand that a thrown toy can do damage does not make for a good thing when you're talking about a tree and glass bulb ornaments! Hopefully, if he is still with us next year all the puppy behavior will be a thing of the past. Anyway, I have to thank my high school friend, Ranel, for the photo as I can't find mine from last year when we used blue painter's tape to hang the poster up! lol! Ranel was the one who gave me the idea for the poster tree. The only problem with having such a portable "tree" is that I don't remember what I did with it!! That means I may possibly have to hunt down another poster, at least this year I have a fairly good idea of where I can find one

Now, when the kids were young...into their early teens...we used to decorate for the holiday a fair amount; a tree, lights, stockings, stacks of presents, outdoor lights, etc. But once they got old enough that Christmas became more of a commercial enterprise rather than one where you could see a real childlike joy and true happiness when they opened presents we toned things down. I remember tree decorating being a family affair and stacks (and I do mean stacks) of presents primarily for the kids. For us now, we're lucky to have a tree (I think we had a tiny 3' tree back in 2008 or 2009), only 1-2 presents per person and we typically only have a special meal on the day and that's about it. Since it's only the hubs and I this year, the plan is a small fried turkey (maybe even just a chicken instead), a ham steak and maybe a 2 bone standing prime rib roast...can I help it if I'm a red meat person?? Yeah, we'll have small portions of accoutrements such as stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole but just like any other holiday nothing special will be going on. There will be a couple of presents to mail out to the kids but the old man and I have decided no presents for each other this year. It's not like we really need anything...sure there's wants but it won't kills us not to have them. Heck, if we did get the stuff we want truthfully, they probably wouldn't even get used much! My favorite saying when it comes to celebrating holidays and birthdays around here is "It's just like any other day" with the exception of a special meal.

So, how do you plan to celebrate Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate? Are we the only ones that take such a lackadaisical approach to the holiday? I hope not! lol!