Christmas Is Here, Bringing Good Cheer...

December 08, 2011

Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say, throw cares away.
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer...

I love Christmas music! The weekend after Thanksgiving will find me digging out my Christmas stuff, and the CDs are always first on the must find list. As soon as I get my fall decorations put away, I put a few of my favorite CDs on the player to set the mood and begin my 3 day frenzy of decking the halls. The reason it takes me nearly 3 days is because I can’t just unwrap the ornaments and place them on the tree. I always, ALWAYS, start reminiscing about Christmases past, and that of course takes time. A lot of time! My collection of ornaments includes: one from each year of marriage (29!), one each per year for our son (26) and daughter (18), plus the usual miscellaneous ones added as I went through various phases of décor changes, those given to us from family and friends through the years, and all the hand-made ones from our children’s younger years. And you can never, ever, get rid of any of those, no matter how well loved they have begun to look. I love Christmas ornaments!

Next comes the Nativity sets, I have two; the first is a white ceramic set that my late mother made over 40 yrs. ago, and the second is from the Willow Tree collection, a favorite of mine. I can’t choose between the two, so I put both of them out to enjoy. I also have a village scene and a variety of other decorations for the tables, walls and front door. I also have kitchen towels, table linens, and of course, the usual garlands and wreaths. I love Christmas decorations! I also have Christmas books: children’s Christmas stories, Christmas cookie and dinner recipe books, Christmas fiction, and my favorite, The Story of the Nativity. I love Christmas books! Actually, the more I think about it, I must confess...I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

If you love Christmas like I do, you are always looking for new Christmas music from your favorite artists. You are always thinking of new ways to celebrate, new foods to prepare, new ways to share with your family and friends, new ways to decorate, and more Christmas stories to enjoy. MCPL can help you with all those things!

A small sampling of items to choose from:

Catch the Christmas spirit with

Christmas Symphony from Mannheim Steamroller

The Gift from Susan Boyle

The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection from Taylor Swift

Gold and Green from Sugarland

Satisfy your Christmas appetite with

Very Merry Cookie Party: How to Plan and Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange

Fix-it and Forget-it Christmas Cookbook: 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes

The Christmas Kitchen : the Gathering Place for Making Memories

And get crafty with

Ornaments Galore. Volume 2