Christmas Countdown By the Numbers

Filling up with the holiday spirit!

7 days to Christmas.

4 people I still need to find gifts for (including 1 husband).

8 people who read America Eats! who exclaimed upon being introduced to my sister, Sue: ‘Oh, you’re the SISTER!’

1 sister rebuttal: ‘I am and she lies all the time!’, followed by me reminding her that I have on-the-record text messages after which she recanted and everyone laughed.

6 Santa hats made for a flock of 5 crows and on 1 statue (see background, left).(The crows were from 9 Halloweens past and have since become cherished living room decor.)

8 foot Christmas tree leaning outside against the garden’s tree.

600 lights waiting for my husband to string on it.

100 (give or take) varying degrees of old, in-tack, or half-smashed ornaments waiting to hang on it.

240 songs on the Christmas playlist.

3 viewings (for now) of different versions of A Christmas Carol (husband is a fanatic).

7 apples of 4 varieties waiting to be made into apple cake.

3 bottles of champagne, 1 case of wine, 1 bottle of Jameson, 1 bottle of Maker’s Mark, 3 bottles of port (I don’t know why), 2 required bottles of digestifs, 4 cases of non-alcoholic beer for the….

8 family members who will sit around the Christmas dinner, as well as for potential pop-ins, all engendering the sense that we should probably have….

2 air purifiers constantly going, 1 bottle of hand sanitizers by the front door, 1 in the kitchen, all guests fully vaccinated.

24 sugar plums that were a hit at a neighborhood gathering, made from the recipe given by Vicki Smith on her always beautiful Easel to Table….

7 and 1/2 sugar plums leftover after 3 were eaten this morning for breakfast.

3 signs of the times:

1 menorah in the nearby park.

1 protest down the street.

1 neighbor’s unbelievable decorations, bulging dangerously into the street.

3 stars in the window to light us through to the New Year!

AND, FINALLY. . . .

62 miles the Christmas tree lady dances through Glasgow, Scotland each year to gather donations for a worthy cause. (I found this for you two years ago but you can never have too many reminders that there are unique ways to bring much needed joy to all the world this season!)

Merry Christmas! I’m so blessed to have you here with me to help welcome in the season!