BUT! This year? I've already got a corner of the room cleared out, tree and decorations out of storage, and it would already be put up if I wasn't exhausted from the cleaning I've done today. Tomorrow will be spent setting up the tree and decorating, and I'm going to have the kids make decorations to hang around the living room as well. What I really want to do is focus more on handmade decorations, and maybe even handmade gifts, and give the kids a different perspective on what Christmas can really be.. it's not about how many presents you get, or how expensive they were. I've always tried to instill that in them, but there are old-fashioned traditions that we've never done, and I really want that for them, and for myself.
From a spiritual perspective though, I really want to delve into Yule, even to the extent of setting up a Yule altar as soon as I can figure out where the bloody hell to put it. Dad's got a holly bush in his yard I may snag some sprigs from, seeing as how he hates that thing (and has told me on numerous occasions that I can chop it to the ground if I want to), and maybe some bits of the spruce (leastwise it looks like a spruce) on the other side of his yard. I find it funny (odd funny, not haha funny) that he'd have things like that, and the lilac bush (which he also loathes), when these are things I have a need and appreciation for, and he can't stand them.
Either way, even if I don't get to go balls-to-the-wall and stick to the schedule I've set for myself and learn as much as I can before Yule gets here, this is already shaping up to be the best Yule/Christmas I've had in a VERY long time. I'll be damned if I let the holiday blahs get me this time around. It's already been difficult with Albert working weekends, and I miss him to bits not being home when I'm use to it, but having him say he missed me too makes it alot easier to stomach.