And in other news

[sholio]

Everything from mid-August onward has been, in many ways, a pile of suck this year (though friends and fandom continue to be delightful; thank you, friends and fandom <3) and there is every reason to think that November and December will continue to be Not So Great, so I plan to fling myself wholeheartedly and perhaps obnoxiously into Christmas from Nov. 1 going forward.

I missed out on really doing anything at all for my other favorite holiday (Halloween) or getting to use my Halloween icons much at all, and as much as I completely get why people hate it, I unironically love most of the silly, kitschy, overdone Christmas trappings (sparkly lights! mall santas! gingerbread!), so this year I am putting the SEASON into Christmas season. I will ABSOLUTELY be putting up a tree before Thanksgiving, and I make no apologies. (In fact I plan to buy a fake tree for the first time ever, so that it's possible to leave it up for a month and a half without having it die the death of a thousand needles.) I may seek out new sources of Christmas icons, even. Actually if anyone can point me to some, I welcome them! It's fun for me, so I am going to throw some tinsel around the place.

I doubt if I'll be posting about it THAT much, honestly (Tumblr is more likely to take the brunt of this) but with a paid account you can filter out my "christmas" tag if the tinsel is too much!

Comments

[sheron]

My (real) tree stays up December through half of February thank you very much XD

I am ready to dive into Christmas cheer myself this year, because Why Not Huh?

[sholio]

AS WELL IT SHOULD. :D

I think we've all had the sort of year that requires some hardcore holidaying, whatever holiday that might be.

[mific]

One of my xmas icons!

[sholio]

Heee! These are adorable. :D

[mific]

And another xmas icon!

[muccamukk]

Christmas Carol Season Is Upon Us!

[sholio]

And my bells are jingling.

[yalumesse]

I hear you; I've had an absolutely horrible year too and here and there when there's something to celebrate I am GRABBING AND HOLDING ON AND NO ONE IS TAKING IT FROM ME.

*hugs* I'm so sorry things are still sucking so bad for you, enjoy your joy where you find it <3

[sovay]

and there is every reason to think that November and December will continue to be Not So Great

*hugs*

If you can process alcohol, dairy, and eggs, I would be glad to share my family's recipe for homemade eggnog. It joins our fruitcake and plum pudding in the essential trifecta of Christmas traditions handed down from people who didn't celebrate Christmas even to the point of Chinese food and a movie. I have no idea how any of it came about—it's like my grandparents heard about English Christmas one year in the mid-century and decided to give it a try—but I plan to continue the traditions, which include eggnog that can be mistaken for rocket fuel with nutmeg on top.

[goss]

Yay, Christmas! The festivities around the Holidays is something I look forward to and often cling to like a lifeline to help make it to the end of the year, so I am totally on board the Christmas train with you.

The last half of this year has been particularly brutal, and this past weekend I found myself seeking out the Christmas decor aisle - something I usually hold back doing until closer to Christmas - just to surround myself with a little of that sparkly magic.

[philomytha]

What a great idea! I'm sorry to hear things are continuing to suck, I was really hoping that wasn't the case for you, but going headfirst into sparkly lights, tinsel, mince pies and carols sounds like the best plan I've heard for weeks, I think I'll join you. I adore traditional Christmas music and normally have a rule for myself that I'm not going to start playing it until well into Advent, but this is not a year for that kind of self-denial...

[anna_wing]

Could you buy a potted tree and just keep reusing it every year? My family did that for years. Of course, a tropical conifer grows about 30 cm a year, so every a few years they have to be planted out and replaced, once they start hitting the ceiling...

Christmas is just the last in a long row of Festivals of Light (starting with Deepavali) in these parts, so lights are not kitschy, they are entirely proper and correct! It was not until I was in Vienna one December, and saw how dark and grim a continental winter can be that I realised the huge psychological effects of the lights.

[lunabee34]

Hugs

I'm sorry things have been so rough.

[princessofgeeks]

Enjoy!!!

[yhlee]

CHRISTMAS CHEER!!!~

My mom recounts that she experimentally tried a live Christmas tree one year (I was around six - this was when we were in Missouri and she was an Army wife so I suspect peer pressure). She reports that she was HORRIFIED by the amount of Sweeping Up Of Shed Pine Needles she had to do and swore never again. The rest of my childhood was filled with Artificial Tree. It was fine! My sister and I loved it and my mom was less stressed. XD

[snickfic]

I've been sort of deliberately keeping my tree up until February the last couple of years. After all, it takes a lot of effort to put up! But especially this year, since I don't foresee getting it up until like the second week of December. (:D!!!!!)

Here's one person I follow who does stock icons, including Christmas ones. I feel sure I know of more; if I find them I'll let you know!

[trobadora]

So sorry about your pile of suck! I hope the holiday season will have plenty of fun and awesome to distract you from the lingering suck. ♥

[leesa_perrie]

There's a shop in Boughton-on-the-water in England that is a Christmas shop. That's all it sells, Christmas things, and it's open all year round. It's even survived Covid19! So, if they can do Christmas all year round, starting yours in November is perfectly fine *hugs*

[schneefink]

Does your early Christmas season include early Christmas cookies? :D

All fingers crossed that November and December will be better than anticipated.

[scintilla10]

I'm sorry for the sucky parts -- I hope you get to revel in all the Christmas season joys this year! <33 The tree and holiday lights are one of my favourite parts.

For icons, I really love this set of wintery/Christmas themes!

[hamsterwoman]

I'm sorry things have continued to suck and are likely to continue to suck for the rest of the year. Extra early dose of holiday cheer seems like a very logical remedy!

(In fact I plan to buy a fake tree for the first time ever, so that it's possible to leave it up for a month and a half without having it die the death of a thousand needles.)

We got a fake tree last year for the first time ever in my life (it's a New Year tree, which is a thing we do even though we don't celebrate Christmas, but it's a fir tree decorated with baubles all the same), and it turns out (not entirely to my surprise) that in the absence of needles to clean up, I just... left it up until now. It is a much smaller tree than the live ones we used to get, and that part of the house doesn't get much use with the kids both away at uni, so it's not like we've been tripping over it all year, but at this point I just need to decide whether to take it down so as to have a reason to trim it again for this New Year's or to just leave it there until January in the spirit of efficiency. Or maybe this is just how we live now...

[copperfyre]

I have put strings of lights up already, if not the rest of the decorations. But it’s cold and the nights are getting longer so twinkly lights seemed the right response! We’ve got to take our little joys where we can find them, right?

[chelseagirl]

The first year we had an artificial tree -- while we were in lockdown, because we thought maybe real trees would be hard to come by that year -- we were so depressed we put it up on mid-October.

The next year I bought some Halloween ornaments for the tree, but we didn't put it up 'til early December. But that's mostly because my partner goes to Chicago TARDIS every year Thanksgiving weekend to be staff photographer, and left to my own devices, I'd put it up about a week before Christmas . . . .

I am a fake tree convert, simply because of needle hell.

[rissabby]

The thing I love about artificial trees, is that one can bend the branches when decorating so all the ornaments have room.

The thing I miss with an artificial tree; lack of pine-y smell.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I'm so sorry the last couple of months have been rotten for you. I was hoping things were really looking up, too!

Enjoy Christmas, and ignore any Grinches out there!