A Tale of Two Tree Lightings

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Emily and I went to two different tree lighting celebrations. They both had good parts and not so good.

First one was on Friday and it was the tree lighting at Biltmore Park Town Square. We got there early so we could find a parking spot and had supper. After we ate, we had some time to kill before things started up, so we went to the toy store which Emily loved.

It was cold but not terribly so. We had hats and gloves though Emily decided her hat was itchy so I ended up giving her mine. There was some booths set out. Emily got to meet the Grinch and got some candy. She got to do some science experiments as well - like making snow.

They had a little parade with the local high school band as well as some performers on stilts and to end it off was Santa and Mrs. Claus in the bucket of a fire truck. As the parade was finishing and they were getting them on the ground, Emily got in line to meet Santa.

Emily is seven now but she still believes in Santa Claus. The Santa at Biltmore Park is the real one to her. Her reasoning is that he's the only one that brings his wife with him. The wait was long, but people were giving out red and green glowing necklaces that Emily had fun with. The performers on stilts were right by the line so we got to see that as well.

We got to the front and I was able to take some pictures of Emily with the Clauses. She told that what she wanted - which happened to be two things she saw in the toy store. From there, we were both getting cold and we'd seen most everything so we headed out. It was really fun and it was also completely free.

The next day, Todd had to work so I decided to take Emily to the tree lighting at the new Asheville

Outlets. It was rather disorganized since there was supposed to be activities starting at 2 pm and there wasn't a lot going on. She did get a balloon animal and we spent some time looking at the stores since we hadn't been there before.

Around five, a table was set up with crafts for the kids. Emily did all the crafts and while she was doing that, the tree was lit up. This was not very good because it was still light out and it was a massive crowd so Emily couldn't see very well.

Part of her balloon animal had popped so after the crafts we went searching for the balloon animal man. He made her a swan, which ended up popping before we left. Balloon animals are fun but dangerous!

Since it cost money to get a picture with Santa and we had gotten a free picture with the 'real' Santa the day before, we skipped the massive line. We instead went to check out the carriage ride. We found it and Emily loved the horse. We got to take the first ride with another mom and her two kids. It was a five minute ride around the parking lot but it was still fun.

But when our ride was finished the carriage driver asked if we had paid. Nothing on the schedule had indicated that it cost money which is what both me and the other mom had said. So we ended up getting a free carriage ride that was really expensive - like $20 per person!

The Biltmore Park Town Square was far and away the best of the two. It was well organized and it was completely free. Asheville Outlets was very expensive for just about everything and it was pretty disorganized. Hopefully we can skip Asheville Outlets tree lighting next year!

Shopping and Thankgiving

Image: wtkr.com 

Over the last few weeks, I've seen a series of memes about not shopping on Thanksgiving. About boycotting stores that are open on Thanksgiving and making a big deal that REI isn't going to be open even on Black Friday.

Well, I have a confession. I'll be shopping on Thanksgiving. Well, shopping may be the wrong term, but we are driving down to GA for the holiday and we will be buying snacks and gas on the way.

People seem to get up in arms about other people working on Thanksgiving and other holidays selectively. Gas stations will be open, fast food places too because lots of people will be traveling. I work in tech support and there will be people working at my company. Many other call centers will be open and taking calls as well.

Not everyone has family close enough to spend the holidays with and some people don't have any family at all. Some people would rather work too, and some people like the holiday pay. Sadly, some people are going to be working on holidays, it's just a fact of life.

I'm thankful that I have family to spend the holiday with and that I don't have to work on Thanksgiving. But sadly, I can't make it all the way to GA without stopping for gas so I'm also thankful that the gas stations will be open so I can get to my family.

Christmas!

Christmas was definitely more low key than usual for me, but I found out that I'm still recovering and need to take it slow. 

I always work on Christmas Eve and this year was a bit of a mad rush after I got out of work. I worked until 3:30 and we had to be to church at 4:15. We only live about ten minutes from church but I'm paranoid so we left a little early and got there about five minutes before we needed to.

Since we were one of the first people there, we got a great seat. Emily and her classmates were whisked away to get costumed up. I went to the bathroom a little before the service started and I had a view of them in the big preschool room donning there costumes. It made me feel a little teary eyed.

Finally the service started. It was a child led service so the old kids did quite a few songs with chimes. And the kids Emily's age and younger, sang the Nativity story. They had angels, wise men and shepherds. Emily was an angel but she said she was Mary. Todd and I didn't argue.

After church was done, we  headed home. Emily opened up two presents. Her Christmas pjs and Pinkie Pie doll, which she loved. We watched one Christmas movie and got small child to bed.

Santa came and I passed out. I was going to try and watch a little TV but I was too tired, so I just went to bed.

On Christmas morn, I woke up a little after 6 because my body said, "Wake up, it's time to work!". Emily didn't get up until nearly 7 but was raring to go once she did. Todd had fallen asleep in the chair which he does sometimes.

The great opening commenced and Emily was very happy. She kept declaring it the best Christmas

ever throughout the day. Todd shuffled off to bed so I was on open the presents duty. Emily was nice and let me take a break between the openings because I wasn't feeling great. But the straw that broke was the Mandy's back (or head as the case may be) was the Barbie house.

Emily hasn't really had Barbie's before but she got a ton for Christmas thanks to my mother in law. She loves them and of course she wanted the house put together. I feel for my mom who put together tons of those sets for me and my sister over the years. 

It was a pain in the butt that required me to sit on the floor. But finally the Barbie house of doom was all together. There was one more thing that needed to be put together but I made her wait for Todd. During the great put together/remove from package

Todd got up, put together the Doc McStuffins center. He started our feast and we called all the relatives. Emily did talk to everyone and thank everyone but she was more interested in her toys of course. 

I ate after we talked to everyone and then I took a nap because I was starting to feel badly. The rest of the day was resting and eating and Emily playing. I was feeling increasing bad but tried to keep my spirits up.

It was a good Christmas but I way, way over did it. Which lead to me missing work the next day and ended up in the ER on Saturday. But Emily had a good Christmas and that's all that really matters.

Christmas Overreach

I love Christmas. I want to get that out first thing. But I don't love Christmas in the beginning of November or in late October. I'm not even very fond of Christmas in July. But the Christmas overreach has been creeping in and taking over other holidays.

Yesterday I read and shared an article from Jezebel called Christmas Must Be Stopped. Let's Declare War on Christmas. The author talks about the war on Christmas being the overtaking of Thanksgiving and now even Halloween. She also mentions that too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. I totally agree with her.

When I was a kid, the Christmas stuff didn't show up in stores until around Thanksgiving. Black Friday was a thing but didn't happen until early Friday morning. My family had our own traditions. We stayed home on Thanksgiving, preferring to make the 3 hour trek to where most of our family lived for Christmas.

On Thanksgiving, we'd watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We'd have a small lunch of cheese, crackers and summer sausage. While my mom got our feast ready, my dad would watch the Lions play football while my sister and I would decorate our rooms for Christmas.

Over the rest of the weekend, we'd go cut down our tree and and deck our halls. My mom loved Christmas so nearly every room of our house was decked. Christmas lasted all December and it was wonderful and joyous.

After my mom passed away, Christmas lost some of its' magic. When Emily was born, it regained some and we started up some of my old traditions. We do generally travel on Thanksgiving - either to see our family in GA or Charlotte. But we generally get our tree and our halls decked in late November / early December.

Once the end of December comes around, I'm ready for Christmas to be over with. Commercialization rules the roost instead of the birth of Christ (which is the reason for the season for us since we are Christians).

I refuse to do anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving. The snow rule is the only exception and I've already used that up this year. So I'm all for a war on Christmas - go Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Fletcher Tree Lighting Ceremony

We live in a fairly small town that is between Hendersonville and Asheville called Fletcher. Not much is here but we do have a park that’s about five minutes from our house. The Fletcher Parks and Rec department does several activities throughout the year, like the Halloween Carnival we went to in October. I got an email a few days ago about a tree lighting they were having and decided to take Emily to it.

The event started at 6 pm so it was already dark out. Earlier that day I had gotten Emily some glow sticks and she had fun waving them around as we walked to the ceremony site. She told me on the way that she wanted to help light the tree and I told her that probably wouldn’t happen.

We had brought some can goods for the drive they were having so we dropped those off first. Then we got some hot cocoa and cookies to munch on while we listened to some kids singing. Once the singing was done, the mayor came up and said a few words.

Then it was time for the tree lighting and they asked for a child to help the mayor light the tree. I told Emily to raise her hand if she wanted to do it. She raised her hand and waved and she got picked! She was brought up on stage and asked her name, and then she helped the mayor turn the tree on.

I was a bit bummed because my flash wasn’t working great on my phone so I didn’t get a picture or video of it. And she was blocked by a pole when she was actually turning the tree on. We did get approached by a reporter asking Emily’s name and age. The only news article I’ve found this morning online doesn’t mention her though.

After the tree was lit, all the kids were invited on stage to hear Twas The Night Before Christmas. The kids were pretty good until they saw Santa arrive behind the stage near the end of the story. Emily got off the stage once the story was done and I got a quick picture of her by the tree she had lit. Then we got in line for Santa.

Emily waited very patiently for Santa, running around a bit but staying close to me. It took a while but finally it was her turn to meet Santa Claus. She went right up to him, sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a My Little Pony toy. She got her candy cane and we head off since the event was winding down.

We both had a good time. Luckily, the rain had held off until later that evening and it was pretty warm out too. Emily told me when we were on the way to the car that she told me that she was going to get to light the tree – and she had been right!

Happy December!

It’s really hard to believe that it’s already December. I did wish most of the year away counting down to our Disney Trip. But now I’m looking forward to the holidays and the new year to come.

I love Christmas and I’ve been itching to get our house decorated since Thursday. Slowly working on it but we won’t get our tree until later this week because Todd works on weekend.

Emily and I will be making her Christmas countdown chain this afternoon. It’s something we always did when I was a kid and I’m happy to bring this tradition to Emily’s childhood. I got construction paper to make red and green chains. Emily will make a tree or a star for the top.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season this December!

Our Thanksgiving

Usually for Thanksgiving, we go down to GA to spend the holiday with my aunt, uncle and cousins. This year, Todd’s grandmother was down visiting his aunt in Charlotte so we went to have Thanksgiving there.

Todd volunteered to make the meal, but he made most of it the day before. When we got up, he was making the potatoes and stuffing. We got on the road and made it to his aunt’s house at about 12:30.

Todd got all the food warmed up and we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner while watching the Lions kill Green Bay. I ate way too much but still took Emily to the nearby park to play during half time.

Once the game was over, we packed up and headed home. Emily fell asleep on the way back because she had been running around all day. It was nice to see Todd’s family – it’s been a couple of years since we were up in Michigan and able to see his grandmother.

Todd went to the movies after we got home and I got Emily to bed. I tried to watch some MST3K on Netflix but I was just too tired. I didn’t do a whole lot but the traveling really gets to me lately. It doesn’t help that I have a cold right now.

After his movie, Todd went to hit some sales. He had a movie at Target but the line reached all the way to back of the store to check out. He decided not to wait in that massive line and just came home. He’ll be doing a little more shopping today.

For me, it was a good holiday. I’m working today, but thankfully from the comfort of my own home. After work, I’ll be getting the house ready so we can decorate next week. Todd also works today but his normal shift.

I hope all of you had a good holiday!

Snow - Why I Love it and Hate It

Our front yard a few years ago

When I was growing up, snow was the norm for nearly six months. We lived about ten miles from Lake Michigan so we would get lake effect snow. Most years our yard would be white from November until March. I was very happy when I moved down south where the winters are much shorter.

But I have mixed feelings about snow. Before December 25, I love it because it never feels quite like Christmas without a little snow. After Christmas is over, I hate snow because then it becomes cold and annoying.

Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and I hope we get some. Though this is very early for snow to come down here in North Carolina and I hope it’s not a sign of things to come. Luckily I do work from home so most of the time I can watch the snow without having to go out in it.

Emily always gets excited for snow because she really wants to play in it. The one year we went up to Michigan for Christmas there was no snow on the ground and didn’t really start snowing until we were driving home.

So snow is welcome for now but hopefully winter won’t last too long past Christmas.