Is it Christmas yet?

Here are a few photos.

Emily has always liked this set of felines dressed for the holidays.

One winter I was so busy at work dressing the plush cat as an angel was about as far as I got with Christmas decorations. Emily became enamored with the angel cat and enjoyed snuggling with it.

Midnight enjoys the holiday in a more prosaic way.

Molly looks like an angel here, doesn't she? I had to train her and Emily not to wrestle near or under the tree. I never cured her of the habit of diving behind the tree. The lower branches all got flattened. She only stopped out of boredom. I wonder if she'll start again once the tree is decorated. At least she's entertaining.

I don't know what it is with me, but I'm never prepared for Christmas when it comes. Once when I said this, my mother laughed and replied she didn't know why because it was the same time every year. It may have something to do with my allergies and that it takes me twice as other people to get things done.

And then things just happen. I had a stomach bug the beginning of this week. Three-quarters of the lights on the tree wouldn't light. A woman whom I met earlier this fall called me. She's been without a job and wanted help getting something to give her grandchildren for Christmas. I'm just surviving right now and have no experience buying presents for children. I contacted some friends whom I thought might help. Today I have to make 3 hairpipe necklaces for the children. I'll have to deliver them today or tomorrow.

Telecheck called me last night to tell me I owed them money and promised to call me repeatedly until it was paid. I never received any notification that there was a thing wrong with my purchase from Amazon. Amazon's process broke down and got me into this mess. Three days before Christmas it's not nice to be treated like a criminal and threatened with harrassment. I was too upset to work (currently I work from home) and decided I had to do other things to work it off.

I worked on the Christmas tree mess. I had stopped with a nest of wires and bulbs a short way down the tree. I discovered that there was a mini extension cord inside the prelit tree and the unlit strings were fine, just disconnected. I don't know if one of the furry children is at fault or not. I had started to take the strings off from the top down. Taking off the lights off a prelit tree is difficult. They were very well wrapped around the branches. I plugged in the strings to stop myself from taking off more than I had to. Fortunately I had only taken off the top string. By taking off the top of the tree I could free that. It's all untangled and waiting for me to put it back on. It seems to be a long string for the top.

As usual I am feeling overwhelmed and not sure if I can get through everything. I've made a list and checking it twice, hoping to get the most important things done. I hope all your preparations are going better than mine.

The cats seemed entertained by my travails. They enjoy the lights on the tree and the decorations, and of course getting new toys.