Christmas Countdown

2 weeks in Ireland equals 2 weeks without blogging. Thank you for not deserting me, beloved readers. My family and I were busy celebrating new births, christenings, our son’s 4th birthday, his Granny’s 100th birthday, and traveling from Dublin’s east coast to the west coast of Westport, Ireland. A busy trip to say the least but a great one at that. The sights in Ireland are breathtaking and it’s people are just lovely.  If ever you have the opportunity to go; do it….but be advised that you may not want to return. Although our visit was mainly to spend time with friends and family, I did carve out some time to pop into a few antique shops and I wasn’t disappointed.

As our Irish vacay came to an end, we all developed pretty nasty colds. Our son developed croup, and his father and I caught our own grown-up versions. It’s safe to say that the mild California climate has officially sissy-fied us. I haven’t had an ear infection since I was nine. Ireland’s cold and wet weather chewed us up and spit us out. Our first few days back home were spent indoors, dropping cold meds like it’s hot.

One really annoying personality trait of mine that I will share with you is the complete inability to sit still. Even when I feel death may be knocking on my door, I simply cannot have the house a mess when the undertaker comes for me. Read a magazine? No honey….I think I’ll organize the cleaning supply closet instead!  I hate myself for it….I really do. Sick in more ways than one, I thought to myself there’s no better time to be stuck indoors for a few days. Take a hint from the department stores and prepare the house for Christmas! Let’s SKIP Thanksgiving altogether and go for the gold!!! As my husband laid in bed moaning to himself, I donned my pajamas for 2 days straight and broke out the fake Christmas trees. Thank God my son gets his crazy from me, because we had the best time dancing and popping the plastic branches in place. We were buried in our own snot and tissues, but whatever. We could represent Christmas spirit in the olympics, people!

Here are a few pics of one of our trees…..my favorite and newest addition: the mid-century modern aluminum Christmas tree. Easiest tree assembly ever.  I had seen these cool retro looking bulbs by Martha Stewart at Home Depot and decided to keep it simple. You rock me, Martha. Your monotone voice puts me right to sleep…..but you’re a tiger with the trees.

Now that we’re all duded up for Christmas, I can turn my neurosis to the Christmas dinner I’ll be hosting this year. More on that later. I’m sure I’ll find a way to neeeeed something MCM for the celebrations. Don’t tell the husband.