A Festivus For The Rest Of Us

I visited Hobby Lobby today.  For those not aware of the joys of Hobby Lobby,  it is 55,000 square feet of scrapbooking supplies, craft items, home décor, Christmas/holiday decorations, party supplies, silk and dried florals…in short, a hobby heaven!  It has the most wonderful smell when you enter, a cross between scented candles, dried eucalyptus (in their floral department) and unfinished wood.  Amazing! One thing you can always count on at Hobby Lobby, they have their Christmas section up before just about everyone else.  I started to see some ornaments sneaking in around June, but by mid-August, almost everything is displayed. As I perused the aisles, absorbing all the glinting, glittery, shiny deliciousness that is the hallmark of the advent season, it occurred to me how much Christmas was going to change for us. Yes, our plan was to spend Christmases away from Saudi, but that was only in the days directly leading up to the holiday. How would we enjoy/celebrate the holidays in the weeks preceding our trip? Would we still have access to a Christmas tree? How hard would one be to get, and if we could get one, would it cost us a fortune? Would there be ways to get Christmas ornaments? (Truth be told, I'm much less worried about the last question than the first few. I consider myself quite crafty. Give me some glue, a crapload of glitter and a handful of dish brushes and sink stoppers and I'll show you some of the best ornaments you've ever seen!)

Hobby Lobby Display Trees

But seriously, a huge part of my Christmas is having Steven get our fake trees and all the ornaments down from the attic the day after Thanksgiving, (yes folks, every year my loving, supportive husband gets the short end of the stick!) and then making the trip to the tree lot to get an additional live tree.  (After all, its not Christmas without the fragrant pine smell and a few dozen pine needles to clean up every couple of weeks!)
We have a ritual; every year while I decorate the trees, (yes, trees, plural. Last year I capitulated and only had three trees in the house, although I decorated two more at work) Steven puts on a movie he wants to watch and I spend a few blissful hours working my Yuletide magic throughout the house...One year he watched Pale Rider, (one doesn't automatically think of Christmas watching Clint Eastwood movies but he was happy) one year Home Alone, and last year I believe it was The Polar Express for the baby. (You have everything you neeeeeed, If you just belieeeeeeeeeve....)
But it's not just at home that I want to feel the spirit of the holidays. The first time I hear Silver Bells at the store I get a wonderful tingly sensation, and Bing Crosby singing White Christmas on the radio? Forget about it! I'm usually a grinning fool!
You know who really gets in the spirit every season? Macy's. I don't particularly care for them, having worked for them for several years starting in my late teens and having conflicting ideas on how management should be treating their employees, but it's very hard to beat their decorations. I especially love walking through their fragrance department, surrounded by wreaths of red and and gold and huge draping swags of greenery; there's probably nothing that screams "Chrismas Time" more.
But there will be none of that in Saudi. While we will probably have some sort of celebration on compound, there will be none of the decorative splendor off compound that many of us take for granted. No carols playing in the stores, no glittering lights on houses or storefronts, no wreaths or banners on city light poles, no Santa, no Jesus, no public Nativities, no neighborhood light tours. In short, not a single nod to or mention of the season. And thinking of missing out on all that for the approximate month from Thanksgiving to Christmas makes me a little sad.
So it will just be that much more important that we observe our important home traditions before we leave for Christmas in Paris this year. That means ornament making sessions with the baby. It means watching A Christmas Story, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Elf over and over. It means flying several thousand miles with canned cranberry sauce in my luggage if Steven can't find any before I get there. (You know, the good kind that slides out still shaped like the can in all its quivering glory!)
And if all else fails, thank God there's still Festivus. (Google: Seinfeld/Festivus) I'll let Steven and the baby engage in the feats of strength while I go shopping for a nice, shiny pole. Anyone up for a little airing of grievances?! :)