That's what holidays are for

I know I haven't posted for a while. I guess you could say I've taken a holiday. Several times I've sat down to write something and been interrupted.

We went to my parents in Iowa for Thanksgiving. All of my brothers and sisters came, so we did a family photo. I suppose it wasn't too surprising that the smallish kids (Ellie and her cousins) didn't want to cooperate.

It's always hard to stay away from home, particularly for Linda. She seemed to manage pretty well. The hardest part is the energy it takes to be in a place that isn't home. Linda get tired a lot easier than the rest of us.

Looking like Christmas

Linda and I were thinking about going to a movie today, but we couldn't find a babysitter. So Linda suggested that Ellie and I go get a Christmas tree instead. I checked the weather forecast, and today is the last warmish day for a week. Perfect day to get a tree. As always, I went to the Troy Mills Tree Farm (and why wouldn't I, since it is only about two miles from me).

We got a new tree stand this year. I have to say that after struggling with our old tree stand for so many years, I'm not sure why I didn't spend $12 for a new stand sooner. Getting the tree up and straight was a breeze.

Ellie helped extensively. As everyone seems to notice, she has a lot of energy. She helped me string the lights. We had a lot of dark bulbs this year, so it was Ellie's job to get me replacements from a ziplock bag where we keep extras. Linda and I reminisced about how each burned out bulb would have taken out a whole string when we were kids. Our light sets would have been hopeless to fix with about 10 burned out bulbs all together.

Two or three years ago I bought ornament hooks at the end of the season. They were lost last year, so we couldn't use them. I've sort of been keeping track of them all year and finally remembered to get them out this time. Linda replaced a bunch of the dumb little loops on our ornaments with metal hooks that are way more convenient. Ellie and I hung them (I did the high places).

It all looks very nice. And somehow, Ellie is still full of energy. I could just sit in the same place for the next several hours myself.