Christmas is in the air!

Yes, my Christmas tree is up!

This is my first Canadian tree. The last 5 years, I always intended to buy a tree but never quite got to it, either because I was out of the country or just didn't get to the stores fast enough to get a good one on a good deal.

This year's tree purchase was a spur of the moment thing as well. I just happened to have a car for that day and brought my cousin to Wal-mart for a shopping spree. She wanted a Christmas tree and this one was such a steal. I had to buy one as well, along with the lights, a tree skirt and some decorations. I already had quite a few decorations which I have bought previous years in anticipation of when I will own a tree. All this turned out well, my tree looks decorated enough, does it not? Maybe the only thing missing is a bright star at the top.

In my high school years, when school was out in November and we would spend summer just doing nothing at home all day, setting up the tree would be first order of business as soon as we hit December. Have I had the choice, I probably would have waited till December so as not to seem to eager for Christmas to come. Unfortunately, obligations trumped tradition this year. I am going to be quite busy the next few week-ends ahead, so last week-end was my only chance lest I ended up not putting the tree even though I bought one this year!

Thanks to my BFF Joan, my place has an air of Christmas already!
Now to find presents to put under the tree!

My Christmas tree

Today, I've put up my Christmas tree.
For the last 7 yrs, I either didn't have a Christmas tree or couldn't be bothered if I put it up or not. And my parents didn't bother either when I wasn't here.

But this year is different, I am home and I WANTED to put it up. So this morning, I dug out my old plastic Xmas tree and that's what it looked like:


I was glad it could still stand up and wasn't too bad looking though it's a bit tilted at the top. (But that only makes it look like a natural one, haha!)
After an hour of bending, stretching, sweating and what not, that is what it looks like:


I've tried to simulate snow with cotton balls....but humm....I ran out of cotton balls. So you can see some snow at the top, but it didn't reach the bottom branches :P

A few of my friends asked if it isn't too early to put up my Xmas tree, after all Christmas is still 3 weeks away....The answer is NO! The beginning of December is as good a time as any to put it up. Some people decide to put it at the beginning of December, some 1-2 weeks before, some on the eve, some a few days before. It is up to people's preferences and sometimes to family traditions. In my family, I've always been the one to put it up (and take it down) every year ever since I'm old enough to do it by myself. So it was always up to me to drag it out year after year, to my convenience.

I'm glad I've put it up this year. Not only it gives a festive mood to the house, but who knows, Santa might drop by on Dec 25!