Oh Christmas Tree(s)

Christmas season is in full swing here in north Jersey!

the Christmas trees on 71st street in Manhattan

Hot Chocolate drinking and Christmas tree watching is my new sport. Say that with a German accent and it will be fun..."Hot Chokolat drinken un Christmas tree vatchen ist mein new shporrrt."

The ground has frozen and we have received pretty snow and even an ice storm that seemed to crystallize everything like a snow globe.

Put on your ice skates to get to your car! My name today was Hans Brinker Anderson.

I wonder what Walt Whitman would say about these leaves of grass?

pretty

Front lawns are peppered with air-filled Santas, some neighborhoods have dozens of menorahs and as you turn the corner the next neighborhood has nativity scenes. North Jersey is very opinionated on how to celebrate and are ready for Christmas and still celebrating Hanukkah.

In this house we celebrate the birth of Christ. Three years ago, when we were newlyweds, we went shopping for our nativity set and Christmas tree. I had been in Italy one month and was still wishing everyone a "Felice Ano Nuovo" or Happy New Anus...the pronunciation was really close to Anno or New for the new year. All of Italy celebrates Christmas with ornate and intricate nativity sets so I knew it would be tough to find the perfect Christmas tree. Anyway, we set off for the only place around that sold Christmas trees, the super-size grocery store Iper Lonato. There were big nativity sets and small ones, glass ones and stone ones but no Christmas trees. Then we saw it, there was one small set with not one little tree but two set up behind the stable of the nativity. It had a few small lights and seemed to say, "Take me! One for you and one for him and the nativity for the family!" So we got it. That nativity set with two little Christmas trees means a lot to me.

Today it fits perfectly in our teeny-tiny shoebox of an apartment outside NYC. The woman who lived in a shoe had a more spacious abode. Nevertheless, our little trees and nativity fit just right. The Christmas tree decorations don't fit so well, since they were made for a BIG tree over 5 feet. They make me laugh though because they are so huge hunkering over the little bodies of Mary and St. Joseph. One good thing about a smaller tree is that it keeps certain cats from scaling it like daring panda bears, that is what they look like, those fat things.

Without further ado, our trees:

Away in a manger

The manger covered by happy decorations. I think it is awesome

 A few of my favorites:

Mini Starbucks mug. NJ Turnpike. 2005.

Ballerina. North Jersey. 2012.

Chimpmunk. Baltimore. 2009. (El Gordo)

Sail boat. Annapolis, MD. 2007.

Cupcake! ......Cremona, Italia. 2010....sigh of nostalgia

Fluffy glass ornament. Millersville, MD. 2004.

I get one new ornament per year and that is it. So my storage box for Christmas is really small...and easy to move.

In other news, Bentley can't wait for the New Year to start. He received an yearly gift from SantaCat and won't leave it's side: a pin-up calendar with his favorite girls:

"Hey baby..."