UConn James Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 My wife wants to put them up at the start of November, I think last year her mom and sister came over the first weekend in November and put up the tree and decorated. I however sat upstairs in the bedroom watching football refusing to partake in anything christmas until atleast after your thanksgiving (It was a rule we had growing up, the Christmas season didn't start til the weekend after your thanksgiving). This year the wedding delayed decorating so her mom and sister are coming over this weekend, but at her moms place, the decorations went up first week of November. I do notice now that stores around here are pushing earlier and earlier every year to get the christmas stuff out. I don't think Halloween was over and Christmas stuff was already coming out. This actually makes me less in the mood to celebrate the holliday cause its just showing how much more commercialised its becoming. I do like the idea of getting outdoor decorations up when teh weather is above freezing. As a kid I was always the lucky one who had to go out in the below freezing temperature on a saturday or sunday afternoon in december to hold the ladder and stand around "helping" my dad hang the lights on the roof. Because of that, to this day I refuse to decorate the outside of the house because it brings back those feelings of frozen feet and numb hands that took hours of sitting by the heating vents to get back to normal Ditto on the second paragraph. I was in Macy's getting some sheet sets in early September and there was a girl in there putting up trees and all kinds of Christmas stuff. Sacrilege! I put up the (artificial --- two things of lights went out last year and I just said screw it and cut them all off with wire cutters and ~3 hours. tree the Friday or Saturday right after Thanksgiving. It's artificial with a kind of frocking that I liked. Two strings of lights went out last year, two years after we got the damn thing, and despite changing out fuses, nothing, so I said screw it and grabbed some wire cutters and ~3 hours later (couldn't believe how intricate it all was) and a lot of white fluff stuff on the floor, it was devoid of lights. We picked up some LED strings on clearance and so we're going back to stringing them up manually. Also do some evergreen garland and lights around the lamp post near the driveway. Gonna be different this year, for a few reasons. A serious illness in the family not the least. I suppose some would pack it in facing this and not bother, but that's not us. We press on. and there is some comfort in the rites/rituals. BTW, we are a clear light family. Traditional. I just think colored lights are a bit tacky and better saved for New Year's.
apuszczalowski Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 Ditto on the second paragraph. I was in Macy's getting some sheet sets in early September and there was a girl in there putting up trees and all kinds of Christmas stuff. Sacrilege! I put up the (artificial --- two things of lights went out last year and I just said screw it and cut them all off with wire cutters and ~3 hours. tree the Friday or Saturday right after Thanksgiving. It's artificial with a kind of frocking that I liked. Two strings of lights went out last year, two years after we got the damn thing, and despite changing out fuses, nothing, so I said screw it and grabbed some wire cutters and ~3 hours later (couldn't believe how intricate it all was) and a lot of white fluff stuff on the floor, it was devoid of lights. We picked up some LED strings on clearance and so we're going back to stringing them up manually. Also do some evergreen garland and lights around the lamp post near the driveway. Gonna be different this year, for a few reasons. A serious illness in the family not the least. I suppose some would pack it in facing this and not bother, but that's not us. We press on. and there is some comfort in the rites/rituals. BTW, we are a clear light family. Traditional. I just think colored lights are a bit tacky and better saved for New Year's. I disagree on this, but probably because growing up, no one had clear lights, Everything was colored lights.We even had a manger my dad built as a kid that we set up every year under the tree that he had put some lights in under the roof of it and they were colored. When the old lights were dying, my dad installed a new set with more colors and a flasher and we renamed the manger to "Disco night in Bethlehem" I'm thinking things might start to change for me once I have a little one at christmas time though. Might feel more in the mood to do things and decorate more for them
Jim in Anchorage Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 You guys are bad. It's HOLIDAY decorations.
5 Wide Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 the 1st of December everything goes up. I hate taking it all down, and I love the soft lighting from the tree and decorations so it usually doesn't come down until late January.
boyst Posted November 22, 2012 Posted November 22, 2012 I grew in one of those neighborhoods that would do it up right in lights and features. It was the weekend of Thanksgiving that everyone started putting them up with all of it done of the course of the next week. It took most houses 3-5 days to get lights up with all the jazz. Our house alone had around 16,000 lights at our peak (we were on a corner so we had to do front and back). Either way, lights up Thanksgiving; light on the first weekend of December
drinkTHEkoolaid Posted November 22, 2012 Posted November 22, 2012 Right after thanksgiving. Either the Friday or Saturday
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 22, 2012 Posted November 22, 2012 (edited) BTW, we are a clear light family. Traditional. I just think colored lights are a bit tacky and better saved for New Year's. I agree... EXCEPT for a few red holly berry lights @ the top of the tree... Gives it a "winter berry effect." Clear/white lights are the presence of ALL color!! Why filter out one or so colors? Edited November 22, 2012 by ExiledInIllinois
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