planning for christmas

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hi.

so has anyone started planning for christmas?. decoration, shopping, etc?

I am hoping to start with my decorating next week. I still need to find my decorations (I don't know where I put them!), but hopefully I will find them somewhere in the chaos... lol..

I also have a shop near me who do nice decorations when it comes to things like christmas and halloween. if weather holds up 1 day next week may have a look for something nice.

so when do you all put yourdecorations up.

 

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Any decorations I have I put up around Dec. 1, although judging by what I've seen of today's weather in Florida so far it feels like that time already!

 

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I don't rush the Holidays I don't want to think about Christmas while the eating Halloween candy

 

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I am starting my decorations today! I have always loved Christmas and do a big display outside each year. It is a lot of w9rk, but worth it.

 

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This is a good time to put chaos in order, you're probably staying home because of the weather anyways!

My goal is to not break out winter coat until after December 1st.
Daydream about decorations keep an eye open for deals on perfect gifts.

It's taking down Christmas decorations that I don't want to think about lol

 

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As it's just me and my dad for the Christmas day dinner I don't need to do much.

Before end of November I'll put tree and decorations up.

With shops having so much decorations I'll probably get some soon.

I'll order some presents online soon for a handful of people.

 

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I love that so many of us participate in this international pastime, Christmas.
Where I live there are three celebrations to drive away the gloom
Diwalli a festival of lights celebrating the triumph of good over evil and strangely uniting two often angry sparring partners Muslim and Hindu.
Then there's Hanukkah which I introduced to drive depression out of my daughter with singing candle lighting and special donuts. Driving around in the pitch dark trying to find an active celebration!!(took a couple years but now is a tradition like it or not we're all in laughing and singing.)
Not to mention Christmas at which we see the past memories and current moment collide candy shatter like the stained glass of a kalidescope.
Mr Rodgers the famous child tv guy said " there'always helpers. Always look for the helpers.."
I say be the helper. Just open a door for someone else,say a kind thing once a day. It will light your own candle.

 

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Great philosophy there, Maymay! I like that! You really have the spirit!!!!

 

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My family and I celebrate Solsticemas, when the northern hemisphere begins its journey back toward the light of the sun. Humans invent all kinds of names and traditions for what nature presents us with. You can call it whatever you want, even name it after a mythical man, but it’s ultimately about the lack of light and the return of light. Every culture on the planet celebrates this apex of the dark season some way, depending on which hemisphere they’re in. It’s not exclusively claimed by Christians though they like to think it is. ALL humans need to celebrate with bright colors, good food, and artificial lights in this, the darkest time of the year.

Unfortunately, then the gloom of the longggggggggggg, ugly, cold, dead brown of January and February hits, extending even until mid-March. Antidepressants can’t even tackle that depression.

This will be the first year in 33 years that I won’t be able to ski and snowboard, thanks to my decrepit knees and now broken foot that requires months of healing, including another month of being totally non-weight-bearing. I’m worried about my mental health without my primary winter coping mechanism: flying down the snowy slopes.

So in the meantime, I’ll enjoy cozy, delicious TDay with my two family members (my parents), and wrap some presents for lovely Solsticemas. These holidays make surviving November and December bearable. I wish we had more in January and February.

I put up my Solsticemas decor in early December, to answer the original question posted up above. Like others posted, I, too, dread taking them down because of the physical pain that ensues.

 

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So much healing to do. It's going to be a challenge to get that rush. To breath that deeply.

 

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I will be in Grinch mode as usual, but I will probably still enjoy it.

 

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@snow I've never heard of Solsticemas until this very moment - but I completely love it.

What could be more worthy of celebration than the turning of the heavens away from the sinister pull darkness and back to a journey towards the lifegiving light.

You've made my day!

 

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@Phil6003 My pleasure; please use it. To my knowledge, I invented it. I found x-mas inappropriate somehow (I actually used x-mess for a long time) so I thought long and hard about what it means to me and switched over to Solsticemas.

 

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@snow Treat yourself to an Oculus Quest 2. There is a VR game called Carve Snowboarding which you play sat down and this will help you over this horrible time. There is also a ton of stuff you can play on VR which will help with your mental health.

 

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@emily91 We got a replacement TV last month and decided to go up to a 65". It's massive and sits where we would have put the old Christmas tree. Got to find a new spot for it this year.

 

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@laalaauk Interesting idea! I actually work as a Producer at Activision-Blizzard, the world’s largest video game company, but I hate video games, lol! But I like your idea and you’re right, it might help.

 

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Snow. Wondered if you haveaa abYMCA or swimming pool available.

 

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@Maymay941 Thank you for the reminder about swimming! Yes, I have access, but my broken foot won’t be allowed to go without a boot until early January. And I have the right knee that’s a 4/4 on the osteoarthritis degradation scale. So it really hurts to swim with that knee. But yes, I’ll try to remember to get into the water when I can, because I LOVE to swim My foot surgery incision is still open a bit and heavily bandaged so is not allowed to be exposed to water (yet).

I was supposed to be getting a knee replacement this month, not a broken foot! Now the knee surgery will be pushed by at least another six months

 

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Ouch! @snow your broken foot sounds terrible - I feel for you. And to have your knee operation pushed back because of it must be doubly frustrating. So sorry.

 

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@Phil6003 Thank you, sir!