Holiday observations.

 So, one thing i noticed as i bustled about this holiday season attempting to meet expectations of people i barely know  was the effect the so called "war on christmas" has had on seasonal well wishing.

There was very little, if any, well wishing at all. No cheery "Merry Christmas " or "Happy Holidays."
Just the regular "have a nice day" followed by my usual response, "yep. you too."

Words are important. Powerful. But in some cases, words are words. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, seasons greetings simply take the place of "have a nice day" for about a month. The cashier at Target, who has been on her feet for for the last 5 hours? She probably doesn't really give a hoot whether or not you have a merry xmas, happy holiday, or a nice day. She just wants to get through her day without incident. And the fact that some crazy conservative who has spent the last 5 hours listening to Fox fiction, may go off on her if she uses the wrong terminology most likely dampens her desire to say anything.

And the same goes the other way.  The underpaid full time retail worker who may likely qualify for food stamps because the company doesn't give 2 craps about her health and well being. She might also  be one of those folks who spend their free time hanging with O'Reilly, Hannity, & the like . Hence, it may be her, the tired, underpaid cashier who is hoping that she'll actually have the money to take her things out of lay away by Christmas, who is hesitant to extend seasonal well wishes because, you know, she may become a target for some imagined liberal campaign for solidarity.

So, i think i encountered one person who extended a 'merry Christmas' to which i replied, "yep. you too."

Then the holiday was over. And the light shone through. Everything in general felt ..... lighter.  Christmas was over. New Year was approaching. New Year's Day. A singular, secular holiday. No stress, no mess, no contention. The confusion was lifted.

Well wishes for the new year abounded. "Happy New Year!" exclaimed grocers, convenient store clerks, retail workers, random people on the street. Those 3 words were like a deep sigh, a safe haven.

So, what has happened because of the "war on Christmas"? Well, that time between November and the end of December has become just like any other time, just a bit more expensive and busier.

The one cool thing about the holiday season was the feeling that for a brief period of time people were united in the hustle and bustle. Whether someone wished another a merry xmas, happy holidays, we knew what they meant. Be well, stay warm, enjoy.

Nothing more or less. Now extending that same salutation could be seen as a call to arms.

Sad.

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The real war on Christmas in my opinion is being led by the same captains of capitalism that so many editorialists espouse as being the cornerstone of righteousness in society.

I mean, look at this:

This nonsense was on the shelves on Christmas Eve MORNING!!! How did they even have time to stock that? 

So, annoying!!! 

Not sure whether others understand my indignation when it comes to this. Maybe i got so bent because i had yet to do my xmas shopping (the aforementioned hustle & bustle was work related). Maybe my outrage is due to the kind of  full time work that I do. Constantly propelling oneself forward from traditional holiday to  wacky holiday, & from event to event can take its toll. 

Look, the holiday season wasn't even over. What about New Year's? In fact, Christmas hadn't happened!!! And the retailers were pushing us forward. Forward Forward Forward. Always moving. 

There is nothing wrong with forward motion, or planning. I mean, the earth keeps spinning; the seasons keep moving. It's natural. 

However, we as people need to take time to rest on our laurels of celebration. To think, "wow, this has been a great holiday." And yes, we can ignore the valentine's candy until the proper time. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy it. But.... it's still there. A chocolatey seed in the brain, a gooey gust of wind pushing us forward whispering "move along. move along. there's nothing to see here." 

If you have to decorate a tree

When I was a kid, I loved decorating the Christmas tree. And by decorating, I mean hanging every last bulb and bauble on that poor tree then topping it off with a box or 2 of tinsel.

But, I'm all grown up now, allegedly. And, um, I still do the same exact thing hee heee.  Well, actually, this year my personal tree was quite grown up, thank you.

However, every year we have decorated a tree at a local metro park. These trees are always themed & the decorations are sometimes handmade - or, some of them are anyway.

Our tree is usually the most full and ..... umm..... interesting.

& yes, it's January. But xmas is an insane season. & honesty, i don't know if anyone actually sees the tree at the part. Allegedly, it's always very crowded and chaotic there during their holiday festivities.

So, these are tree ideas i thought i would share in case someone ever has to do a silly themed tree &, i don't know, because i have pictures of these trees and need to do something with them.

This year, the tree had an elf theme. This was a theme that had been used before. So, some of the elves were able to be reused. However, most of the other decorations had become scattered.

Anyway - pretty simple - Just took pictures of staff & residents and  print shopped the faces onto elf bodies. Time consuming but doable.

The other decorations were simply toys purchased from the dollar store.

(some elfin faces have been blurred d/t hippa)

 One of my favorite decorations on this tree was the jacks. And the super balls.

I kind of liked this tree this year. I thought it was kind of playful and happy. Of course, the other trees were way more mature and not nearly as full. But...... screw it. 

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Last year, the theme was "pearls of wisdom." This was an idea given to me by another activity director. 

She had scoured thrifts and gotten pearl necklaces and such throughout the year. I tend to live more "spontaneously". There was a lot of stringing of beads going on. Eventually I found cheap pearl-like garland at Marc's. Shew! At first I thought - hey, let's make our own pearls. I & "M" "A" & "K" gave and great college try. But..... no. We did end up with 

cute -ish little pearly decorations though.

Some of these we hot glued pipe cleaners to and then made that curly-q thing w/a pencil, you know?

Basically, the tree consisted of pearls and stuff.

We also cut hearts out of poster board, decoupaged wrapping paper on them.  Then we asked the residents to share some "words of wisdom." And put them on the hearts. The project was a bit larger than I would have liked it to be.

& oh, yes - there was a crap load of bow making. Thank goddess for you tube.

 Oh, yeah. We also made these sparkly things with glitter and Pledge.

 The tree was a bit loppy. But .... meh.

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The year before that we did a woodland theme. Same concept as the elves, but turned people into little animals and used pine cones and birds and such for decorations. 

Can't find those pictures though. 

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave constructive comments or questions.