My Xmas Decorations: Christmas Totally Ralphed All Over My House

Christmas decorations! This is me being subtle. Seriously. This is the most toned down get-up I've had for the holidays. Hark! If a partridge in a pear tree, geese going all Kate and Jon and their eight kids, or any type of cardinal appeared, our kitty elves would make that all stop. Immediately.

Well, maybe not immediately. Right after their under-the-tree naps.

Atlas is covering his little face here.

Yes, those are kitty beds under the tree. They sleep under there anyway, so they might as well be comfortable and on something I can wash often and easily. I do not know why I didn't think of this before this year.

Have you ever seen something in a store that was so ugly and weird that you fell madly and passionately in love with said thing and had to have it. Exhibit A: a set of very large, knitted, sequined owl ornaments.

HAD TO HAVE.

Just like those mugs. Love.

I don't even have a particular affinity for owls. I do, however, have a completely unrelated owl Christmas story. I used to work for a non-profit that paired volunteers with people who needed help learning to read, write, and speak English. I'd say 75% of the people were learning English as a second language but the rest had English as their first and only language. They often had learning disabilities or had to quit school at an early age (usually way back in the day). I would say 99.9% of the time, the story of the other person needing help was dramatic and touching, and his or her life was full of things that would make normal people cry. 

Anywho, one of our volunteers was this bubbly wife of a Notre Dame professor. She was very smart and dedicated, and she'd been volunteering for us for years. She was working at that time with this tiny, shy, elderly woman who spoke almost no English. I want to say she was from a small village no one had ever heard of in Japan or Korea or somewhere like that. Well, the holidays came along, and a lot of the volunteers and the people they helped gave each other holiday gifts.

The elderly woman wore a lot of older clothes but, of course, the volunteer noticed that she also always had a different pin on her shirt or sweater. The volunteer then bought her a sweet little brooch in the shape of an owl as a small Christmas present. The elderly woman was always baking things and such for the volunteer, so she was thrilled to have something to give to her in return.

When the woman opened the brooch, wrapped in pretty little white box with a red bow, well, let's just say it didn't go well. The woman dropped the present on the floor, spoke to the volunteer in a terror in her native language, and ran away from her out of a city library. RAN. Full speed. Olympic qualifying-type of exit.

Turns out, where she is from, the owl is a powerful symbol for death. It took several weeks with other family members and translations to figure out what happened and then to convince the elderly woman that the volunteer she loved and had spent such time with did not indeed wish for her demise.

I always kind of found that funny. Just put it in my "I'm a bad person" file and let's move on. Back to Christmas decor! The dining room and living room! A china cabinet full of things paws are not allowed to touch!

And a heavy table centerpiece so that tablecloth isn't on the floor whenever I walk by. Across from the china cupboard is one of my grandma's paintings. Holiday-i-fied.

I like keeping things so lit up at Christmas that I don't need to turn on lamps. Our main tree. I'm way into the poinsettias this year.

I also have massive garlands hung over the shutters at both ends of the room.

And my grandma's other little painting. BOOM sparkles! Do not ask how long it took for Mav to learn that the gingerbread man in the chair IS NOT A DOG TOY.

In the kitchen, I listen to a lot of Christmas music. Have all white holiday lights other than the little nightlights. Wear a holiday apron. Bake cookies for the BEST COOKIE JAR EVER.

The little Santa box by the cookie jar has extra ornament hangers just in case. How smart am I?

My window is all refined. Flowers and greenery and Hallmark ornaments. Even the new fridge has little cookie magnets.

Then, turn to the other side of the room. See the penguin tree and the display where I let all the crazy in my insides have their day. The sad part is I did not just close my eyes and throw decorations in that direction, letting them fall where they may. It's all on purpose, every bell, every pearl strand.

Kitties favorite place. Even more popular than under the tree.

See the stuffed penguin in the tree behind the happy Isley? That is their favorite thing to remove from my carefully made decorating scheme. Out of all of the house decorations. I never fail to find that thing somewhere else in the house at least twice a day.

Kitchen wall. It's like the wall is bleeding merriment.

Go ahead, try to make sense of it. Yes, Bambi is inside the wreath with a giant pink ball and a white dove. Why? What about that scene doesn't make sense?

I even create a holiday scene under our regular cat entertainment centers. Festive rugs, anyone?

After this photo, Pandora then got on the dining room chair there and hid under the tablecloth, batting at me as I walked by. I picked her up for a naughty kitty photo. Priceless "I Am A Bad Kitty" face.

See my opera house in the back? I surprised my gram's one year with season tickets to the Lyric Opera in Chicago. At the time, it was the most expensive thing I had ever purchased. When I found the light-up opera house at Walmart that year during the holidays, I knew it was meant to be. She was so surprised by the house and all the operas. Although I learned I'm not a live opera lover, I did love every moment that my gram's and I spent during those trips. I even bought the operas beforehand with translations and read them to her before each show. We had the best time dressing up and "going to town".

So that is my holiday scheme this year. Too much? I'd day it's about 50% my usual fare. The hubby sure puts up with a lot. I am his introduction to Christmas. Sure easing him into this new arena, right? Even after how many Chrismases, I know sometimes he's still like, "Wow." And then speechless. I'll leave you with the kitty the camera loves most, Mary Lou, in the kitchen centerpiece. Cute and crazy, all wrapped up in a jolly good time.