It ain't over til I say it's over !!!!!!!

No..... nope .... you're not seeing things ..... that's my Christmas tree still up, still decorated, and still lit up. I feel like it took so dang long to get everything decorated, and that I just got it all up, and I haven't really had time to relax and enjoy all of the decorations, that I sure as heck do NOT feel like turning around and taking it all down .... yet !!!! So, I'm not !!! (We kind of live in our own little world and make up our own rules here at Moonbeams in a Jar!) Now that the actual day is over, I feel like I can FINALLY enjoy Christmas and not feel like I missed it all in a rushed blur ... before Dec 25th everything is CRAZY !!! and stressed !!! Where's the fun in that? So..... I've extended the Christmas season by a couple of weeks. Now, the "Christmas Card Writing Dept" actually had time to leisurely sit and write out some Christmas cards (instead of throwing them together as per usual --- so, these are our annual "After Christmas Cards"). Then, the "Christmas Quilting and Stitchery Dept" has also FINALLY had a chance to sit in front of the fireplace and take a few stitches in that Christmas stitchery project (how do you like those socks and slippers? Pretty glamorous, huh?!? -- well, it was only 15 degrees out and my tootsies were just FREEZING !!) So...., the "Christmas Quilting and Stitchery Dept" has been given an extension until the end of January to leisurely enjoy working on Christmas themed and winter themed projects. Now, other departments have been given a vacation until next year ..... the shopping dept, the gift wrapping dept, the cookie baking dept, and definately the cookie eating dept are all on vacation ( yes , the foodfest definately needs to be OVER !!!)

Anyhow, we're still listening to Christmas music here, too. Evan made the observation that exactly at midnight on Christmas night, the radio stations switch back over to regular, non-Christmas music (seriously, we were on our way home from my parents' house on Christmas night around midnight .... had the radio on and at the stroke of midnight, right smack in the middle of "Jingle Bells" they switched over to a regular song ..... "jingle bells, jingle bells, jing ..... TEENAGE WASTELAND,(boom, boom) it's only TEENAGE WASTELAND" ..... classic rock station ....) Well, here at Moonbeams in a Jar, we'll be darned if a radio station is gonna tell us when Christmas is over !!!! (Actually, there is one local radio station that continues to play Christmas music through January 7th -- that's because January 7th is Russian Orthodox Christmas. There are pretty many people in this area that celebrate Orthodox Christmas, or "Little Christmas" as it's also called. My dad grew up celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas --- so, even though he gave up that tradition when he and mom got married, I still feel like , since it's part of my heritage, I'm automatically given a "back up " date for Christmas, giving me extra time to finish up Christmas stuff that I didn't finish in time for the December 25th date.)

So..... Merry Russian Orthodox Christmas !!! (and I promise to take the Christmas music off of my blog exactly at midnight on Jan. 7th!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)