When our kids were at home, we celebrated the 12 days of Christmas. We did do gifts, although only the one given on 12th Night/Epiphany/Feast of the Three Kings was a big one. The others were small, sometimes shared (such as a family movie), and for years they involved a treasure hunt each day to find them. They loved the treasure hunts so much that it didn't matter if the treasure was nothing more than a colorful pen or a candy bar. We kept up our tree and lights through Jan. 6th (even got a nastygram from the HOA in one neighborhood for not taking down the outside decorations fast enough.) At least once, but more often on the 26th and again on the 2nd, we had "backwards day" for which we ate pizza for breakfast and french toast for supper and stayed in our pajamas all day. Since we homeschooled, we scheduled a break from Christmas Eve until Jan. 7th. Our kids were into Legos, K'Nex, Puzz3D, and all sorts of building toys, so we spent a lot of our time working together to assemble new sets. We also watched the movies (VHS back then) they received, as well as old favorites. We took turns choosing the menu for each day so that everyone had favorite foods (even when that meant PBJs for supper.) On Epiphany, we enjoyed our first King Cake of the season (which runs until Mardi Gras.) Whoever got the "baby" (we used a plastic baby hidden from the bottom, but some people use a large nut) was the King (or Queen) of the Feast. These days, we're not together for most of the 12 days of Christmas (if at all.) I order King Cakes for each of us from a bakery in New Orleans that delivers them on (or the day before) Epiphany, but that's all we do now.

I hosted a large-ish family group yesterday and also kept life low key today. Went to Pilates this morning, then came home and after a nice long chat with my daughter we put away most of the dishes and serving pieces from yesterday. Snacked on some leftovers, finished the last 2 episodes of Orange is the New Black which I just discovered, then more leftovers for dinner, and now off to read a bit then early to bed. No shopping, no maniacal clean up, not much except relaxing! I won't say I resent it, because I do it every year, but sometimes I do think that since in my family there are only 2 of us (stepmother and me) who always put on these major holiday gatherings-boy, does everyone else get off easy! I had about 20 family members here yesterday and although I did appreciate several of the guests who pitched in to help, as hostess it was just an incredibly busy and hectic and intense experience to manage it all. In a debriefing call tonight, my stepmother, who is a retired professor of occupational therapy and thus very tuned in to effective work systems, commented that in a sense, hosting these parties is almost like turning your home into a restaurant...except there isn't a staff! Since I always think that somehow if I planned things right I would be able to effortlessly run these shindigs, this perspective really made me feel better about how exhausting it always is. After all, if I had a hostess to get everyone greeted and seated, and chefs to get all the food prepped, cooked and plated, and waiters to help take out and bring back the food and beverages, and dishwashers to clean it all up,...life would be ever so much easier wouldn't it?! Ah well, it was a very nice gathering and I've still got tomorrow and all of next week for me time. Which I *will* be taking, thankyouverymuch. Might go see The Wolf of Wall Street tomorrow and American Hustle is on the agenda too. Some shopping once the stores calm down a bit. Some reading, some relaxing, can't wait for my holiday to really kick in! Ann

Thanks for the update Anne. I'm sorry to hear you have been sick, but it sounds like you are wasting no time getting caught up for the holidays. You have wonderful friends and family. I am always so amazed at how much they do for you (and you for them). Cherish these times. Happy holidays!!

After struggling to get a large tree in a stand and get it straight for decades (my late husband always swore it was a true gift for me to always be able to choose a tree with a crooked trunk!), I finally gave in and bought a VERY expensive Christmas tree stand several years ago. <https://www.christmascentral.com/swivel-straight-1-minute-christmas-tree-stand-for-real-trees-up-to-10-5572292/> I have no idea where I bought it locally, but it's exactly like this. Once you have one of these, you will never again go back to an old fashioned stand. Don't be fooled by cheaper imitations! Only the real thing will do and you'll have it forever. It is SO easy to use, it swivels to straighten the tree and then locks in place. It also holds a TON of water - no daily Marine-crawl under the tree to keep it from drying out. I do add a "Waterhog" round mat under it - I know they are available from Orvis and also other places. It's an "insurance policy" that water doesn't get spilled while the tree is being watered. Don't ask me how I know about this... For many years, we had 5 cats. I will never forget awakening in the night to a very distinctive sound, like no other...the sound of an 8 ft, fully decorated Christmas tree crashing to the ground. Now this was with our old Christmas tree stand, but let's just say that the lights and ornaments looked like they'd been put on by drunken elves until we took the tree down (right after Christmas - it was that bad). We would have had far more broken ornaments if we hadn't learned with our first Christmas tree to TIE ON the ornaments with narrow red satin ribbon. It lasts forever - many ornaments still have the ribbon from 51 years ago. You can buy it by the bolt quite cheaply at places like Michael's or JoAnne's - just buy it now - sells out quickly. And yes, we use the fishing line/eye hook method of attaching it to the wooden built in bookcase in the corner where the tree goes. No cats, but I still do this "just in case". Many decades ago, before I was married, I had a cat named Mehitabel (yes, named for the famous Archie and Mehitabel characters). At that time, most people put foil icicles/tinsel on their trees, a tedious task if done properly, one piece at a time, and an unholy nuisance when the tree is taken down. One evening we walked into my parent's living room, and there were two eyes glowing from INSIDE the Christmas tree. There sat Mehitabel about 3 feet up in the tree, on a thicker branch near the trunk. Not a single thing was disturbed - not even one piece of tinsel. She just sat there, looking like the famous Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland! We never saw her get into the tree or exit it - she had her mysterious ways!