Getting Ready For Christmas....???

Okay, I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday, buying art supplies, and there it was..."holiday" trims were out..ornaments, trees...argggggggggggg! That said, next month, beginning Sept. 14th through the first of October, I will be decorating (along with two elves I've aquired) 114 Christmas trees for Macy's..in Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi.

I have been in Visual Merchadising for such stores as Bloomingdales and Filene's, so I am used to decorating trees..and all things, well, "visual".

It's been triple-digit temps here in Texas for the last 54 days, so thinking about Christmas somehow cools me down a bit.

When I first left Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for Madison, Wisconsin, it was 78 degrees in North Carolina on September 30, and by the time I reached Madison, on October 2nd, it was 17 below zero. I cried for days...I also was in the snow in the back yard of our seasonal rental, wearing my old mink coat, oven mitts, and chopping wood for the fireplace...what a change.

My dear friend Kathy, who owns a wonderful full-service floral/gift/stationary shop in Chapel Hill ..."The Purple Puddle"...www.purplepuddle.com flew me down to merchandise her store, and to help with a huge party that her clients were having...

We did up the mansion just right...I have blacked out the owner's portrait to, "protect the innocent", as they say. I do believe he has "passed", as they say here in the South, and she has moved on.....

If you are ever working with pointsettias, you need to burn the stems after cutting, as they will secrete a gummy liquid...not fun....also, remember they are deadly poison to cats..(kids)?

I love the scent of stargazer lilys...my husband hates them...When we were in the Dallas Art Museum a few weeks ago,the scent wafted all over the place...he thinks they are cloying...I love them.

I am having a really hard time finding roping here in Texas...last year, I cut up a tree and made my own...anyone know where I can get it?

Don't get excited, the packages are for show...nothing in them...I do love wrapping gifts..as we don't exchange gifts in our family.....we gave it up, as my husband is sick of "crass commercialism" during the holidays...Sometimes, I have to remind him that this is a large part (or was) of how I earned my living...besides, would it hurt Jesus if I got a bottle of perfume for Christmas? I am also a floral designer....Kathy sent me to floral design classes to learn the "mechanics", and I do love to do it...however, the days of being on my feet for eight hours at a time, creating great beauty are past.. Oh, that's right..I have 114 Christmas trees to decorate next month..don't I?