Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas

December is always busy, but this year it's busier than ever. On December 17 I have to turn in the draft of my entire dissertation so that my committee has time to read it before my February 5th defense. And of course there's all the usual stress related to the end of the semester. Housework of any kind has been given low priority status, and for a while there it looked like we weren't going to put up decorations. But then I saw Joseph having fun with his Christmas tree, and I just couldn't bear for Betty's first Christmas to be un-festive (even if she won't remember it). Plus I needed somewhere to put the adorable Baby's First Christmas ornament Papaw and Kay Kay sent. So we put up the tree. We didn't put up many other decorations, and we didn't even put out all the ornaments. But we have a tree, and lights, and tinsel, and Betty likes it. If she ever asks about her first Christmas I can show her this picture. I probably won't mention, however, that there were only three stockings hung by our chimney with care: mine, Steele's and the dog's.