Haul out the holly

When packing up my things in Texas before moving to South Carolina, I couldn't believe how many things I had accumulated. I wondered why I needed boxes of Christmas decorations. Was it really necessary to move snowman plates to the beach? But this weekend when I pulled all of these seasonal items out of storage and brought them back into my cabinets and living room, I was so glad that I didn't put any of them in the goodwill pile. There is something about having these familiar things that makes it feel more like home and makes it feel more like Christmas.

Growing up in Missouri and spending my college years in Indiana, I grew accustomed to cool (and even cold!) weather around the holidays. This came to an end in Lubbock, where I wore short sleeves on Black Friday and even on Christmas day. And again this year, while my family and friends were dodging snowflakes on Thanksgiving, I was enjoying 60 degree temperatures here. While I am sure that every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's growing up wasn't cold, I still associate this cold weather with the Holiday season. Don't get me wrong, I already love the more mild winters. And it sure hasn't taken me long to think that the 40 degree temperatures I previously would have viewed as a heat wave now are COLD!

But back to the decorations. There is something familiar about bringing these out every year. It makes me realize how much has changed within the past 11 months since I took them down. This year I put them up in a new home, where I have new friends, and a new job. But as I put up the same decorations as in years past, it also makes me thankful for all of the things that have stayed exactly the same. I have good memories of shopping for ornaments with my Grandma, of decorating the tree with my family who was visiting last year, and having Christmas breakfast on Snowman dishes two years ago. I can't even be angry about the orange juice that stained my new placemats that day.

It's especially important for me to have reminders of these memories this year. This will be the first of probably many Christmas' to come that my family will not be all together. We have been fortunate so far that we have always spent Christmas as a family and I will be anxious for them to make the way out here for the first week of the New Year.

While the weather may not feel like the Decembers that I remember, the feeling of the season is still the same. And there is nothing like seeing lit-up trees in windows or having the streets lit up with snowflake lights. That may be the only snow I see this year, but this still is "the most wonderful time of the year" and I look forward to the new holiday memories for 2007 and in the years to come.

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