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Old 12-13-2016, 07:20 PM   #21
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It varies by year.
This year we got lazy and put up zero decorations but did send out Christmas cards. I know xmas cards are kind of going the way of the dodo but we kind of find it a fun once a year thing to use the postal service.
Last year we were travelling a bit and only had time to get a tree. Still sent out cards though.
The year before that, we put up lights on the house, got a tree, sent out cards, etc.
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Old 12-13-2016, 07:35 PM   #22
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DW and DS usually put up a fake 7' tree with built in lights plus some decorations scattered around in the living room, so I guess I vote 3).

This year we are clearing the place ready to move in January so we donated the tree to Goodwill before Thanksgiving so that someone could have the benefit. ( voltage is wrong for the U.K.)
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Old 12-13-2016, 08:03 PM   #23
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Poll says we are a "hard 3".

No more outside lights. A wreath on the door. Three fake trees (7', 5' & 3') all with LEDs and a few ornaments and ribbons.

If it snows before Xmas, I'll build a 10' snowman in the front yard!
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Old 12-14-2016, 12:17 PM   #24
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6 (except the roof part). We have two live trees. DW loves Xmas. Her decorations fill an 8x10 room. She has a half dozen themes that she selects from each year. Not sure where this came from except maybe trying to dazzle the kids that are now grown.
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Old 12-14-2016, 01:04 PM   #25
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A couple of strings of LED lights around one of the window frames in my 285 sq ft studio. That's it. I used to have an artificial tree and quite a few decorations, but got rid of them when I downsized a few years ago.

This year, for the first time ever, I won't be cooking at home on the 25th, or going to anyone else's house for a spread. SIL called and suggested that we do what the family in A Christmas Story did, and go out for Chinese. I jumped at the idea, as it was already in my head, and seems like a fun alternate way to celebrate.

So, on the 25th SIL and her BF, and me and my SO, are meeting up in SF's Chinatown, for a fun meal with no clean-up afterwards!
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Old 12-14-2016, 05:17 PM   #26
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I'm a 5 and a 3.

Got a nice 9' prelit fake several years ago (remember the Home Depot Expo fancy store?). Had gotten so tired of wrestling lights off the real tree after christmas each year, to then find most no longer work the next... and the pine needle droppings... not to mention those years when it looked like a fresh cut tree was not gonna stay green thru the day.

No shame in a nice #3!

My card list, however, gets shorter each year. Just seems a bit archaic.
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Old 12-14-2016, 05:39 PM   #27
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Used to decorate, to varying degrees, but firmly a #1 now.
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Old 12-14-2016, 06:06 PM   #28
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We use to do a lot but now it's just a wreath on the door. Husband was main lighting expert inside and out but he's still sick. Hoping we're back in decorating mode next year.
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Old 12-15-2016, 06:38 AM   #29
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A No.1 here, bah humbug. I look at Christmas as pretty much for the grandkids and we do spoil them.
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Old 12-15-2016, 02:34 PM   #30
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Put me down for a 6. Four children and although they are getting rather large now, they all love the season and to come 'home' which at Christmas time means decorations. Have real tree with the same kind of lights that my dad put on in the 60s (GE Lighted Ice) but outside it is a red and green LED extravaganza with full size, floodlit Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. Last two nights we have had groups of students over for open houses. Even have some snow on the ground this year which has become uncommon in recent years.
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Old 12-15-2016, 04:47 PM   #31
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1 for me. Have been this way for 15 years or more.

We do celebrate with food and drink. My two brothers live in town, and we take turns hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year parties. Of course, our adult children are also included. This year, I do the New Year day.
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Old 12-15-2016, 05:29 PM   #32
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If we are going to be away, we don't drag out the decorations. If we will be here even just for Christmas Eve, we get a real tree two weeks before and toss it with tinsel, lights, and corny old ornaments, put a few little white lights on the front porch and some real evergreen garlands on the railings or over the stairs, put a wreath up, hang stockings over the fireplace and pin up the mistletoe for a little bonus smooching. These are all things DH likes to do.

In reality, Christmas makes me sad in general, and I much prefer being away, overseas, where it's a sweet religious holy day and not the commercial nightmare we are surrounded with starting November 1. It's not really "bah humbug" but a bittersweet feeling that is a little heavy on the bitter.
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Old 12-15-2016, 05:49 PM   #33
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