The 12 Days to Christmas: Bah Humbug

Of course, the lead-in to the holidays isn’t always gingerbread and snowflakes. A lot of people struggle this time of year, whether it’s because they’re lonely, depressed, stressed, or anything else.

The past few years, I’ve found myself struggling to hold it together during the holidays. I’ve mentioned it before, but with both our sets of parents split up, we wind up trying to figure out how to see everyone on Christmas without disappointing anyone and still have time for just the two of us to celebrate. Financially, Christmastime has been scary– we’re very fortunate this year to feel a bit more comfortable, but there have been years when I’ve been stressed that I couldn’t fully show my family how much I loved them with meaningful gifts. I always came down to the wire finding and buying all of those presents and it still never seemed like enough. I’d bake, decorate, send cards, and drive myself half insane trying to present my own perfect version of Christmas.

This year, I decided enough was enough. I resolved not to cry. I put an app on my phone that helped me track gift ideas and set a strict budget for every person on our list. I started seeking out those gifts in September. I delegated some. I set them all aside in the office, out of the way, and checked the person off my list. Because I started early, I was able to think of gifts I think people will really enjoy, not just some random junk because it’s that time of year to buy, buy, buy without much thought. In a way, that feels a lot better and I’m happier about it.

We started decorating early, setting aside a couple of days to put the storm windows on, the wreaths, the fans, the tree, the garland… all of it. We turn the lights on the tree and in the windows every night, and we’ve really been able to enjoy all the decorations a bit more.

We thought about last year’s Christmas rotation, considered who we saw when for Thanksgiving and Easter, and came up with our visiting game plan for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There may have been a Venn diagram involved. By some miracle, all of our parents seem to be happy with our plans: seeing Dad for dinner Christmas Eve, Mum first thing Christmas morning, Dan’s mom right after that, then his dad, then heading over to see my extended family. It’ll be a busy day, but we’ll manage. And we’ll do our best to have some time for just the two of us– mainly Mass on Christmas Eve and super early on Christmas Day.

Through it all, I’ve been careful to reflect on how fortunate we are, and that’s helped stave off my formerly-inevitable sobbing breakdown. We have each other. We have a beautiful home where we’re blessed to live in for free. We have all of our parents and siblings with us in a 10-mile radius. We have money to spend on gifts and still be able to pay our bills. There are so many people on this Earth that are happier with less… who are we to complain? I’m not saying I’m above it all– far from it, I’ve had a few angry outbursts in the last few months– but when I take a step back and really reflect, I’m amazed at how happy I am.

Merry Christmas.

The 12 Days to Christmas: Deck the Halls

Growing up, we always had a monster wreath on the side of our house lit with a spotlight. It was as tall as I was, and seeing it stored in the attic gave me the biggest thrill throughout the year. We also had swag underneath each window with a pretty bow in the middle and lit our front door with a spotlight. My favorite, though, was the candle in each window. Not only did it look beautiful from the outside, I loved having my bedroom softly lit by the big bulb.

We built two of my childhood homes, and my dad added a few special features that made the process of hanging the swag at the beginning of the season and turning on the candles each night super easy. There were eye hooks on each window at just the right spot for the swag– since we used faux greens, they were hung in the same spot each year. In each bedroom, there was an outlet under each window and a special switch just for that outlet. All we had to do was flip the switch, not dig around for the switch or pulling the plug.

Nowadays, we’re working with what we’ve got and making do with our rented living space. We’re trying to be creative and make it feel homey while at the same time realizing we won’t be in the space forever.

In our apartment, we didn’t really get to decorate outside much at all, save for a wreath on our door. We used battery-operated candles in the windows. Don’t use battery-operated candles in the windows– the lighting mechanism is so touchy we wound up running down the batteries since they weren’t 100% off.

In Our Old House, we really embraced decorating the outside. My grandparents had an arrangement of apples and pineapples over the front door, and I knew I wanted to do that at our house. As it turns out, that style of decorating is commonly associated with Colonial Williamsburg, so we knew we were in good shape. After a little Googling, I found a basic description of how to make over-the-door fans and the rest is history. This past November, I presented my method to a garden club– it’s almost like they thought I knew what I was doing!

This was essentially the extent of our 2011 decorations– imagine this times two. We had the fans over the doors plus some swag and some garland. We got a lot of compliments on it, so we knew we’d be sticking with it for this year and adding on.

And this is where we’re at this year– same as 2011 but updated with faux fruit and greens for the fans (stupid squirrels!), plus wreaths with bows and candles in all the windows. The effect is really pretty at night with the candles and lights along the paths to the front doors.

What are your favorite outdoor decorations? I’m a sucker for icicle lights even though I’ve never had them. I don’t do flashing lights, and you know my stance on colored lights… Icicle lights are fanciful enough without being too in-your-face. Definitely rocking those when we buy a house!

Quick Christmas Tea Recap

This past weekend, Dan and I played hosts to 300 of our closest townsfolk in our house’s annual Christmas Tea. Saturday morning, two separate garden clubs and the Arts & Crafts Society descended on our house, decorating for the season with reckless abandon. From one to four on Sunday afternoon, all were invited to enjoy Our Historic House in all its festooned glory. Dan and I did the smile and wave routine so as to make Wills and Kate (our British equivalents, you may have heard of them– we’re total BFFs, by the way) proud.

I have some nicer shots I took on my real camera, but bear with me and accept this meager offering as a taste. We decorated the outside and stairway- everything else was the clubs.

The aftermath:

Busy bee decking the halls

Once again, life intervenes with posting. I’m trying to be more present and enjoy moments as they go, and as such I’ve been running around drinking it all in and not doing as much reflection.

So pictures are in order! Here are some befores, durings, afters, and miscellaneous shots from the long weekend.

A nice little weekend

Sure, we didn’t get to Home Depot (scratch that, I did yesterday), but I think Frank the Tank would have approved. Please tell me someone got that “Old School” reference or I’ll be really sad. Here’s a photo recap:

Putting storm windows on a 330-year-old house is time-consuming and dangerous. Which is why Dan is on the roof. All joking aside, it’s made a big difference in how the house retains heat, so we’re hoping to keep energy costs down for the association this winter. We’re also hoping for storms, considering these windows went up after a hurricane and Nor’easter… oops. What’s the most dangerous chore you have around the house? Dusting totally counts. I’ve also almost fallen down stairs and been attacked by angry hordes of spiders while doing laundry.

We also fit in our annual pilgrimage to the ski & snowboard expo, the unofficial start to ski season. We said hi to some friends from high school and were hooked up with some lift tickets (Pico, if anyone’s interested in a ski trip!) and bought a four-pack to Bolton Valley. Looks like we’re skiing Vermont this winter! We’re hoping to head to Sunday River a couple of times, too, and probably a trip or two to Wachusett and Waterville (it pays to know people int he biz). Where’s your favorite place to ski? My Western favorite is Steamboat and my Eastern favorite is Sunday River.

I’m pretty sure leopard-print poinsettias don’t occur naturally in the wild. Neither do the gold shiny ones. Also, if you’re planning to stab apples onto nails for festive holiday decor (post to come later this week), know that the ones at Michael’s have cement or something in the middle. Also, visiting three Michael’s stores in one day isn’t nearly as much fun as it sounds, and I got some really strange looks for buying 68 fake apples and a crap-ton of fake greens. Also also, why does no one sell fake pineapples? I gotta find me some of those. Are you planning on any holiday crafts? I’m crocheting my hands off on the way to Virginia this weekend (yep, again), I’ve pulled together one of the two crafts I alluded to above (post to come), and I’m starting to collect pieces to decorate our front stairs for our upcoming Christmas Tea at the house.

How was your weekend?

You’re Gonna Miss This

Friends all around us are buying their first houses. Other friends (and what seems like 80% of Facebook) are having babies.  Only a handful have dogs, and thank God for that, because I just don’t think I could handle it.

I’m jealous. I want to move forward with our lives and experience all these things. Now.

We’re both in the bad habit of keeping our eyes peeled for real estate listings that have “good bones,” claiming we could buy a house while we’re living in Our Old House and do renovations without having to worry about living there during construction. The problem is we keep seeing these houses that would be amazing to buy, then getting disappointed when we realize we don’t have enough to put up for a down payment and not pay out the nose for PMI. Every time someone else buys a house, we dive back into the listings with renewed enthusiasm– if they can buy a house, we can, too!

I’ll be the first to admit I have baby fever, too. Pinterest continually makes my ovaries explode thanks to images of babies playing with Christmas lights and nurseries and everything else. People posting their gorgeous family photo shoots to Facebook makes me oooh and aaah and want to do it for myself. Even postings about how the baby won’t nap (I’m totally empathizing!) or the kids have yet another day off from school (seriously, Election Day?) make me wish I had that going on in my life.

Add to the fact that every time I see a dog I squeal “puppyyyyyyy!” and want to give belly rubs and ear scritches until the cows come home, and I’m up to my eyeballs in Life Envy.

It’s times like this I have to stop and remind myself that I have so much to be thankful for–

• A husband who indulges my whining-wishing then gently shakes me back to sense (more on this later)
• A house where we don’t pay rent or utilities (but most definitely earn our keep!)
• A supportive, loving, and by-and-large healthy family
• Friends who let me “play house” with their kids and houses and live vicariously through them for a while
• A job that allows me to earn a solid living and have some left over for fun
• A creative outlet (oh, heyyy!) that allows me to ramble senselessly about whatever it is on my mind (PS- thanks for that)

And, really, isn’t that what counts? I’m safe, healthy, and loved, and that wouldn’t change with a house, a baby, and a dog.

In my last fit of the “wannas,” Dan grabbed his laptop, pulled up this video, and danced with me in our wonky-floored kitchen, reminding me even further what it’s all about. I bawled like nobody’s business and realized I was being silly.  I listened to it again just now, and I feel better already about this go-round of the “wannas.”

Anyone else struggle with appreciating the present and not pining for the future? What do you do to shake yourself awake?

I should also point out that when I’m in a funk or having a tough time of things, Mum always sings, “Ooh, Child” to me. Always reminds me that things are going to get better!

Our Old House Before and After: Part 1

July 1, 2011 is considered our official “move-in” date for Our Old House, but the reality is that we were there for weeks beforehand getting everything ready. We live upstairs in a modern apartment and the downstairs is kept more or less “historical.” I use the quotes purposely, since if a historian came in, he or she may have a small fit that the items and furnishings are from mixed periods in the House’s occupancy– there’s no one cohesive era.

Our apartment upstairs, though modern, was a bit dated in the paint and wall covering department. We did our best with what we had to work with, which were wonky walls, uneven floors, and trim up the wazoo.

Living Room

Befores

These, my friends, are the before images so well-known to DIY/home-improvement blogs everywhere. Notable: white walls everywhere, off-white trim that winds up looking dirty next to the white paint, and a general disaster area thanks to painting paraphernalia. Oh, and no furniture.

We kept the red floors because a) we didn’t have the patience to paint them at this point and b) we kind of liked them anyway. Before we move out, we’ll try to do a touch-up coat so the new residents have nice, freshly-painted floors.

During

This is the in-progress. In person, the paint reads as a warm leather (which I think is the name of the paint) and is really nice. The couches are a forest-hunter green, hand-me-downs from Mum, the coffee table is from Christmas Tree Shop, the curtains are from the Ann & Hope Outlet (a MA thing? I think?), and the corner lamp and rug are from Ikea. Fun fact: the lamp had to be moved because it could be seen from the street and people thought it wasn’t “in keeping with the spirit of the House.” Dan and I got a chuckle out of this, since neither is electricity, but it’s all good. The photo on the right (sorry for the blurriness), is from after moving the lamp and hanging the photo shelves, also from Ikea.

Now

I hesitate to say “after,” because I know it’s just gonna keep changing. At any rate, I rearranged the furniture recently, and this is how it looks now:

The views here are: top– as you come up the main stairs into our apartment, the first view; middle– as you walk straight ahead next to the windows toward the kitchen; bottom– from the opposite corner as the first view, standing in the doorway to the office passageway.

A few highlights:

• We’ve basically given up on the idea of being able to eat in this room, unless we get rid of the chair (an option). We’d bought a few Lack tables from Ikea to fashion into a bistro table (thanks for the inspiration, Ikea Hackers!), but it just doesn’t look like it’s going to work out.
• You don’t see them in the older images, but we finally got rid of our enormous TV that caused the demise of my iPod and upgraded to a sleek HDTV. At some point, we’ll hand over the corner console it’s resting on to my brother and build a mantle for it to rest on with the rest of the components.
• I built the bookshelf with my dad! It’s still not 100% done since I have to add the trim work, but it’s definitely holding up to the stress of all our books.
• We moved the Ikea lamp that caused the controversy into our bedroom, which is seriously lacking in the light department– there aren’t any on the walls or ceiling, so it’s all table or floor lamps.
• I need to add something from Bentley. It doesn’t look like I went to school at all!
• I might owe you a 360-degree view with a tripod in the middle of the room. Video idea!

What do you think? It’s definitely come a long way since we first moved in last summer, but it’s really feeling like home. I’m off to clean up the kitchen so I can take some “afters” in there and write up that post! You won’t BELIEVE the difference in there!

Life by the Lake

The heat wave we’ve all been suffering through for the last month or so has finally broken, giving us a gorgeous, breezy Saturday. Dan and I are both home, cleaning like mad for the wedding we have at the House tomorrow. I’ll say one thing about being the one hosting the wedding: I’ll be glad when this is over.

Aside from being slightly grouchy that a beautiful day is being wasted on the vacuum cleaner, I’m truly grateful for what I have in my life. I snuck away to the farmers market this morning and was able to buy fresh produce from local farms. I live in an historic home, paying rent through sweat equity and not through my bank account. I’m married to my best friend, who indulges my hissy fits and makes me smile. I’m healthy enough to train for a triathlon and half marathon. I have a job I enjoy and am paid fairly for it. My family and friends are mostly nearby and I can talk to them anytime.

In the day to day hubbub of life, it’s hard to lose sight about what good there is in your life. Taking stock of your blessings from time to time makes a big difference in your overall attitude and helps foster a sense of gratitude (woooo rhyming!).

I snapped the picture in the top right as I was walking back from the farmers market, and it’s what set me off on this tangent. The rest are what I get to see on a regular basis, living on the Lake.

Garden full of weeds

I’m a landscaper’s wife with a garden full of weeds. Looks like I have my work cut out for me tonight!

We have lots to do in preparation for our Fourth of July party in a few short days. I’m so excited!

Prettiest town

This is my hometown, probably the prettiest one in the area. This is the Common– there are concerts on the gazebo during the summer and boating on the lake, too. The best part? This is right down the street from Our Historic House, which also overlooks the lake.

Thought I’d share a glimpse of what I see most every day!