are we there yet?

view from my living room window today

so I just looked up from the computer and noticed that my one holiday decoration...that little pumpkin perched atop my book of haikus, was slightly tilted. Upon closer inspection I realized it was barely hanging on and when I tried to lift it the stem came right off. Gross.

After properly disposing of it I realized, that was it. I have no more decorations to put up. I will be leaving for a few day to spend Thanksgiving in the south and there will be nothing very holidayish to greet me upon my return. When we left Atlanta last year, Keith and I, in an effort to simplify gave all of our holiday decoration (save for a few precious ones) to the movers. We spent last Christmas in L.A. so we didn't bother putting anything up. We are staying home this year and we have to start from scratch.

My game plan is to buy a prelit tree. Yeah, I'm into falsies. After years of buying a fresh tree, I'm over the mess and the cost. Although if I was going to go fresh Washington would certainly be the place to do it...I mean I've seen amazing trees literally growing on the side of the freeway.
I know the fakes are costly, but then so are the real ones and it will last me a while. Next I will stock up on some boxed ornaments...the simple shiny orbs. and perhaps devote one small box to lovely unique ornaments that I just can't live without. That's pretty much it. I figure a festive table cloth, some fresh pinecones, a few sprigs of noble fir and hints of red and shiny will be all I need to get into the spirit of the holidays.

I want to have my tree up by December 1st. That means that I MUST clean up before we leave. I hate beginning new projects in a messy house. I need for it to be sparkly. I have created quite the to-do list for myself. I will also be restocking the shop on Dec 1st. Quantities will be limited so I can get things out quickly and have plenty of time to devote to my own holiday pursuits. The shop will closed for a couple of weeks while I devote time to my family and myself. It will reopen with new product in early January 2011.

Speaking of holiday pursuits, my one main pursuit is my December Daily of course. I have a definite plan for that as well seeing as I tend to lose focus after one week. I wish I could be a bit more fly by the seat of my pants, but that approach never works for me. It will have a loose structure that I hope to post about in the next few days. I'm still trying to decide if I want to devote a daily post to it. I think maybe a weekly post and daily picture...haven't decided yet.