Ever since I moved to Leander the job of putting up outside Christmas decorations has been something I have taken a lot of personal pride in. The first year here I went all out decorating the trees outside, and I remember really leaning in on Black Friday that year to make the front yard seem magical. Most of the years since I kept adding more and more decorations, though I didn't always re-use old ones. Way I saw it that gave me options, plus some of the old decorations were a pain to deal with.
Knowing what was coming, for Christmas 2023 I blew out the decorations: I used everything I collected for the last decade. Stuff from the old house, stuff I bought for the new house- the front yard was like something out of a Christmas movie the yard was so full. I was filled with the Christmas spirit, and that lifted my spirits going into a hard 2024. It was hard untangling lights I probably put away a decade before for the last time, but there was something satisfying about doing it big.
For 2024, I moved right before Christmas. Lindsey dumped on me a lot of the decorations we had because she didn't want to manage them, and I soaked them up to prepare for this year. So when this year rolled around I knew I had to do a good job decorating so all of that wasn't a waste.
I started two weeks before Thanksgiving, I felt bad giving that holiday no recognition but I did a decent job of Halloween decorations and I just wanted to replace one with the other. Plus I knew I would be out of town for Thanksgiving and it might be a while before I got the energy again once I got back.
I filled my front porch with inflatables, and decorated even my upper balcony. I didn't use every decoration I took with me but I did use most. The highlight was Christmas Peppa Pig, a decoration Finn was so happy to see that he gave it a hug the day he first saw it. He said "dad, Christmas Peppa Pig is my friend!"
Normally I only helped with inside decorations I didn't lead with them, so that took more of a lift on my part. I had taken a tree Rene gave us expecting to use it this year, but I noticed when I pulled it out that it got damaged in my move. So instead I bought a new artificial tree and used a Target sale to fill in some gaps to try to make my house feel Christmas-y.
I got the new tree mid-November, but I barely had it for a day before I had to pivot into getting ready for our trip to Virginia for Thanksgiving. So it sat on the floor for almost three weeks, a monument for how I lost my momentum going into Christmas this year.
Finally last week I took a day and put it up, and then a few days later I decorated it with ornaments I got from Target mixed with some Hallmark picture ones Rene got for Finn's first Christmas. I got some extra decorations from Dollar Tree and did my best to really make the place feel special. It might be my last Christmas in this house, heck maybe my last in Leander, and I want to make the best of it.
Once I got it all done I realized that something was missing to complete the ambiance. Once I realized what it was I jumped online and got a deal on a reprint of Wham's "Last Christmas" on vinyl. Now I am ready to really enjoy the 2025 Holiday Season with Finn, my family and Rachel who is flying in on Christmas day.
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