Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?

Dear users, dear authors,
has the Christmas spirit caught up with you yet, or is it taking a while?
Let me know.

I’m actually not in the Christmas spirit at all. Since our parents are becoming increasingly frail, we’re basically just running around trying to smooth over minor and major crises. Right now, it’s all very stressful, and I’m trying to push Christmas out of my mind.

It snowed here for the first time last night, and that little bit of snow—which has since melted again—instantly put me in the Christmas spirit. It got to the point where my first good deed of the day was to hang my homemade Christmas wreath on my front door—so my neighbors could get into the spirit too :-).

Well, we’ve still got a lot going on with school, and at home it looks more like cleaning than decorating.
But it’ll all work out. Around December 15, we always have the school Christmas party and the Christmas party at the riding stable. By then, it’s already cozy at home with string lights and an Advent wreath, and everyone’s eagerly looking forward to the big day.

This year, I’ve also been able to take some of the stress out of the Christmas holidays. We’re skipping a big family visit right over the holidays. I’m really looking forward to being able to spend a lot of time at home and not just having to rush from one relative’s house to the next. 

Oops, the text didn’t come through!

Now that the lavender is slowly fading and everything was frozen this morning, the Christmas spirit is kicking in *laughs*

I’ve decorated everything now, and everything is all set for my Christmas market booth, too.
Phew, now Christmas can come :)

I went to a Christmas market yesterday and bought and put up a Christmas wreath today—I’m slowly getting into the spirit :)

Hello,
YES, we’ve had snow here in Chiemgau for a few days now.
I spent my lunch break today at the Christmas bazaar with live Alpine music. It was really lovely. Up to now, I’ve also made my shop window decorations even more Christmassy. As every year during Advent, there’s also a lot of work in this “quiet time.”
For me, the best part is always the winter landscape :-)))
Best regards from Lake Chiemsee
Traudelina

It snowed here, too. Today I decorated my apartment for Advent and went to the local Christmas market. With the cold weather and mulled wine, the Christmas spirit really starts to set in.

We were at the Christmas market in Duisburg today. It didn’t snow, but it was already really cold. What struck me was that there wasn’t any Christmas music at all! Some rowdy soccer fans stood out in a very unpleasant way. That kind of put a damper on the Christmas spirit.

We’ve had snow for quite a while now. Today I hung my string lights in the window and set up various Christmas decorations (a snowman, a Santa figure, a little house with a tea light) above the fireplace. I especially love it when it’s dark and everything is glowing in colorful lights. I’m slowly getting into
the Christmas spirit now, and with Christmas music and roasted almonds from the “Julemarket,” it’s perfect.

“Julemarket” basically means a Christmas market with stalls selling all kinds of things. They don’t have mulled wine with
alcohol here like we do in Germany, but they do have a non-alcoholic version with a similar flavor. For alcohol, there are these “Vinmonopolet” stores

Stars and angels are being crocheted.

Around here, it looks more like we’re cleaning up than decorating.

The only things that feel Christmassy are my Advent arrangement and the snow that’s falling right now.

I’m totally in the middle of decluttering. My dad stopped by earlier to help out. Then we had lunch at the Christmas market, and I had a mulled wine… my first drink in almost a year. :-) Now cleaning out the place is even more fun.  

Because of my hospital stay and the move, there’s absolutely no Christmas spirit here at all. But we won’t be home on Christmas Eve either, so there won’t be any Christmas decorations.

The hospital stay was total crap, but in the end it was good for me—my strength is slowly coming back, and I’m slowly getting things done.  

Hmm yes, there's nothing Christmassy here yet either ... I'm decluttering too, or rather I had been decluttering before the cold slowed me down, and as a result it looks like the Huns and Vandals joined forces here. I think I won't really start feeling Christmassy until a week or two from now.

@Arni, I'm glad you're slowly getting your strength back!