Day 348 – It’s starting to feel like Christmas . . . finally!

I will admit this has not really felt like Christmas to me this year at all. Like I mentioned I think it is just parental growing pains. As older traditions seem to fade in the light of boys becoming men, it is time for Amy and I to start defining our own new traditions and things we can do together.

Instead of going and hunting a tree with the kids taking hours driving to a farm, walking around in the cold and cutting down a wet tree after everyone has argued over which one is best, we can simply go down and get a nice pre-cut tree and come home quickly.  I have to admit that last night I actually went to a tree lot for the first time in a long time and it was very nice. I drove about 8 miles and came home with a really nice tree in about 40 minutes. I did not get cold, I did not get wet, and there was no mud or arguing.

We got home and unloaded the tree in the garage to sit for a while and I can tell you that when I went in the garage about 1/2 later, it certainly smelled like Christmas! That moment, last night when that smell hit me, it became Christmas.

The inside of the house has actually been decorated (except for the tree) for almost a week. Amy has had the garlands hung, snowmen out, and the stockings all on the fireplace. The little advent tree with Santa has been hung and Cort has been moving Santa from day to day. I hung lights and wrapped the poles by the front door. I even ordered car parts, which seems to be an obligatory Sullivan Christmas item every year. This year it is brakes and tires for the Bimmer.

All of those things and it still did not seem like Christmas. It was like something was broken and I could not quite put my finger on it, until I smelled that tree in our house. Normally we do that in the first Saturday of December but, we were all busy helping Wes with his new house and just life. Little did I know that skipping getting the tree would be the thing that would truly hinder me feeling the Christmas season.

What about shopping you ask? Well Amy, and I have always waited for the last minute to do our shopping. It is entertainment for us to go out on the 23rd and watch the panic on everyone else’s faces as they scramble at the last minute to get everything done. The best is the man walking around like a zombie with absolutely no clue on what he needs to buy. Amy made things even more simple this year and put all of the little Amazon droned to work.

So it is Christmas time! Tree in the house, car parts ordered, lights hung . . . wait. There is still something missing. . .

We have this little ceramic cookie jar in our Christmas decorations that only holds pistachio nuts around Christmas. Come to think about it, it has been out for a week with no nuts in it. I guess Christmas is still on hold but, this one is all on Amy.

Merry Christmas!