trying to get in the mood...

The office holiday party was Friday...at Golden Corral....seriously... ew.  But I DID get a dvd of the version of  "A Christmas Carol" that I had hoped for from my secret santa wish list!

The dance studio party was last night.  I felt awkward and shy, because I still don't have any real friends there...but we WENT, and we went early to help sent things up, so it looked good "politically."

Both of those events were slightly stress-inducing, so I am glad they're over.

The Christmas eve ham arrived Friday.

The missing package finally showed up, badly crushed and damaged, but the contents intact, and the gift buying is almost complete.

"Rudolph" was on tv the other night, and we caught most of it.

 But for the most part, I just don't feel it.

It was 80 degrees last weekend.  There hasn't been any rain.  I've been feeling out of touch and out of energy.

But then this weekend, I asked Dave to bring in the Yuletide decorations from the shed.  We set up the tree we bought last year for the first time, and tested the cats....they did not knock it down.

Jack is probably partially used to having a little artificial tree, since we had one for so many years in the condo.  But Louie was an unknown...and, while he DID show a great deal of interest, he has now decided to leave it alone.

So...this weekend, we strung some lights on the bannister outside.  We set up and decorated the little tree.  We put lights up in the window seat window.

And I feel a little bit more seasonal.

And the cool part is that Dave isn't hating it.

Tonight, the temperature outside is supposed to plunge into the lower 20's, and it's supposed to feel wintery for a few days.  That will help, too.

As for plans for Christmas Eve,  Dave's parents have declared that they aren't interested in Christmas this year, so they won't be joining us for dinner.  Dave's son can't commit until he knows if he's off work or not.

We've invited a couple who are friends of Dave's from way back, but they seem unable to commit so far, as well.

This, too, makes it difficult for me to get into the mood. 

But putting up some decorations has been a good thing to do.