Monday, being N's day off, is always all messed up.  It throws me off starting our "school week" this way, but it is fun too.

I spent the morning tidying up and getting ready for us to get our Christmas tree!  This was always a big part of our Christmas celebration growing up.  My dad is a big tree guy.  I had talked to my parents on the phone on Sunday, and they had spent the evening decorating their tree, which they cut from their property.  Not surprisingly, there ended up being some Frankensteining going on.  Some big gaps were discovered once they set up the tree, so they took some extra boughs and screwed them in.

We went out and did some Christmas shopping -- lights we needed, a snowy batting tree skirt thing, wrapping paper, stocking treats.  I bought D's gift from us -- an Asterix and a Tin Tin comic.  N loved these growing up, though he read them in French.  We did groceries, too. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon still trying to catch up and tidy up and make ready for the tree.  N went out to Home Depot to get it.  For anyone who is planning to get a tree at a store like that, Home Depot will make a fresh cut on the trunk when you buy it!  It was a big deal for us, since N is mess-phobic and would be doing the cut outside on the front lawn in the dark.  It is a nice size, a balsam fir (I like that kind), nicely shaped -- which is lucky, since I don't think either one of us wanted to do any trimming.  Once he set it up, I was in charge of decorating.  We bought all white lights -- I would have gone for multi colour, but I knew that dh prefered it so we went with the clear.  Our decorations are little apples, some baked homemade dough ornaments we made (blue bells, yellow stars, and red hearts), a couple of glittery pinecones that survived my purge last year, and a few ornaments that we have been given.  The bottom section of the tree is bare of ornaments, since M can reach them. 

We snacked on roasted chestnuts, potato wedges, cheese and crackers, and egg nog, read Christmas stories, and sang carols.  Then we watched the newer A Miracle on 34th Street on CBC.  After the kids went to bed, I stayed up until close to 2 am cleaning in the basement.  But I finished what I wanted to get done for Monday.  Tuesday will be the laundry room.  Gah.