It is definitely an interesting Christmas! Home for the holidays! Yes, it's wonderful to not be in a hotel for Christmas... it's wonderful to be in a house!
We checked out of the hotel on Friday, picked up the kids at college, and slept in the house Friday night. We had to buy beds, so they were delivered on Thursday, but anything we had accumulated while renting in Gardiner was packed up, to be moved in on Saturday. Kids brought their blankets and pillows from school, I had our blankets and bought a couple more pillows for Bob and I (you can never have too many pillows!), so that we could stay here Friday. I did a Sams Club on-line order, and a Hannaford To-Go order to save time in the stores, picked those up Friday night and Saturday morning... The movers came Saturday morning, and it was so nice to finally have places to sit down! By Sunday we had unpacked plates, silverware, and glasses, and could actually make a meal.
Bob and I had gotten a tree earlier - it was in the garage, in a tote, in water - now frozen! So Saturday night we pulled it into the house, put it in the bathroom, and got the ice to start melting. Sunday afternoon Bob hammered the ice off the trunk, and we set it up. I bought lights earlier this week, and was given a tree stand. I also got a vinyl tablecloth to put under, mostly to protect the new floor from water! I ordered the angel on-line, she came in time, and looks right on the top of the tree - similar to what we had before. We decorated with ornaments we've picked up, some that were given to us, some that a friend made for us, the one I made, and the ones the kids surprised us with, they got together at school and painted them! My mother gave me some ornaments that my grandmother had made, so we even have a bit of history on the tree! I love our tree. I do miss my Christmas bins - one of house decorations (plates, towels, knick-knacks, wall hangings, etc), one of kids stuff (stuffed Rudolph characters, kids books), bins of lights and ornaments, the Christmas mugs, the advent wreath... Sigh. Starting fresh. (I do that a lot these days. Pick myself up, and go on...) My mother made me a quilted Santa wall hanging like the one she'd made me before. That is now beautiful on my wall!
We got each other some gifts - but not a lot... as I told a friend, just enough to be Christmas, since we're all tired of shopping and tired of new stuff that's replacing what we lost... It was fun but challenging to think of things that we didn't have before but wanted to get for each other!!! I love the birdfeeder that Santa put on our deck railing.
It's starting to feel like our home, not just a house we're staying in. If my van is parked in the yard, feel free to stop in and say "Hi!" - it's having friends visit that's helping to make it feel like OUR house! (Just be careful not to trip over the stuff, we're still figuring out where things belong!)
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