What made you happy today? :)

[Murfreesboro]

Thanks, HH. He's a great guy. He deserves some good breaks.

[Andybev01]

Having you as his mother was probably his first great break.

[Murfreesboro]

Aww, thanks for that. I'm sure there are many things I could have done differently, maybe better, with all of them. But I really did have the time of my life raising them. I never expected motherhood to be as much fun as I found it to be.

[Andybev01]

If your kids are productive members of society you did your job right, no second guessing required.

[Murfreesboro]

Well, I'm not sure any of them is fulfilling his/her true potential, but they do all at least have jobs, lol.

[Andybev01]

Well, my job this afternoon is getting past the sentry and decorating this darned tree.

His name is Hendrix.

He is a punk.

[Andybev01]

Working my way through storage bins.

[Murfreesboro]

My husband and I both laughed at Hendrix.

My tree isn't even up yet! I do have my yard decorated.

I loved my Chicago trip, but it did set me back in my holiday prep.

[Andybev01]

There's plenty of time before Epiphany so don't worry about it.

[Murfreesboro]

Epiphany! Lol

Your tree is gorgeous.

Those golden lights are beautiful. I have multicolored lights, and some of them twinkle, which is what I grew up with. But my Chicago son is all about the golden lights, and I've noticed that magazine photographers seem to prefer them, too.

I also like the angel at the top. I prefer either an angel or a star at the top. None of those bows for me. They remind me of department store trees.

[Andybev01]

Thank you.

It's my brother's and was a group effort.

I like glass spires or star toppers.

I outright reject the current fad of sticking feathers and branches at the top of Christmas trees.

To me it looks like they were dragged through yard waste before they brought the tree indoors.

I like twinkling lights and found a company that makes LED strands that have truly independent, individual bulbs that blink.

Up to now they only had those 8 settings that flashed in different patterns that were only annoying and not pleasant at all.

These come in various clear and multicolored choices.

https://youtu.be/qojN6bgQi_g?feature=shared

[Murfreesboro]

I found a string of LED twinkle lights a year or so back, perhaps made by the same company. I'm with you on preferring the twinkle lights to the flashers. I really don't like the flashers.

I'd never seen fearher/branches on top of a tree until I toured the Museum of Science and Industry display last weekend. The tree from Greece had branches at the top. I looked at it and thought, What IS that?

[Andybev01]

It's sunny and 60° outside.

I have windows open and this made me happy today.

[Murfreesboro]

Good for you! I don't like warmish temps near Christmas. We're getting colder, and that makes me happy.

[Andybev01]

It was a nice break from the persistent cold and occasional frozen fog.

But yes, it was beginning to look a not like Christmas.