January 2009. . . Calling all Snowbirds ~ Part III !!!

[pamouselover]

Hi snowbirds!

Meghan... my MIL bought a tree at Kmart last year... it was a Martha Stewart one.... it was beautiful.... you might want to take a look there...

We are looking to buy a fake year this year. I dont even know what to look for, besides I want one that looks real. We have never had one. I always have loved having a real tree. But with the price we paid last year for a tree made me faint. We should have bought one at th end of the season, my sister said.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Shawna you figured out how to change your pic...YAY!!!! We always get a real tree...so I will have to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to go get ours LOL

Yes, I finally did it!! I just love Alice! She's just so darn nosey!!!!

Good Morning my Snow Friends!!!

Hope all of you that had yesterday off got to enjoy it!!! It's still pretty wet & yucky here!!! Lots of thunder and lightning last night--I have to say I enjoyed it!! After we got home from ballet that is!!! It was sooo dark by 5:45 I could hardly see to drive!! Some of our little streets aren't lit very well.

Well,if I feel like it, I'll be getting out the Christmas stuff today!!!!
Pam ( I think it was Pam) was talking about the fake trees. Make sure you get one that's pre-lit, this is soooo much easier than winding those lights every time!!There are so many to choose from now-and most of them are really pretty. I can't believe how much some of our friends pay for real trees Makes mine look sooo cheap-especially because you can use them for so many years!! I am allergic to the real trees, so that's not even an option for me---Yet I live in the Piney Woods of Texas. Go figure no wonder I deal with allergies/sinuses!!!
Hope you find one you really love!!

 

[overthemoon4mickey]

Well,if I feel like it, I'll be getting out the Christmas stuff today!!!!
Pam ( I think it was Pam) was talking about the fake trees. Make sure you get one that's pre-lit, this is soooo much easier than winding those lights every time!!There are so many to choose from now-and most of them are really pretty. I can't believe how much some of our friends pay for real trees Makes mine look sooo cheap-especially because you can use them for so many years!! I am allergic to the real trees, so that's not even an option for me---Yet I live in the Piney Woods of Texas. Go figure no wonder I deal with allergies/sinuses!!!
Hope you find one you really love!!

I think I'll be pulling all the christmas stuff down from the attic this Saturday and start putting it all up on Sunday. DH is a complete kid when it comes to decorating for the holidays. We had over 11 giant rubbermade tubs full of just Halloween stuff. The Thanksgiving stuff thankfully only fills 3 tubs. When we pull the Christmas stuff down it takes up half of the garage (I want to make sure these thunderstorms pass first) We have several fake trees because Dh would love a tree in every room! Lovely in thought...but it's a lot of work.
The outside Christmas decorations we usually wait to put up Thanksgiving weekend. That way we can mow the yard one last time for the year before we put all the stuff out. (wishful thinking)

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Girl, you know we'll be mowing in December!!! My honey is a Christmas dude too!! But, who does the tree and all the decor? ME!! He hangs lights outside, but that's it. He doesn't realize it takes me 4ever to do that tree!!!!!

 

[jenjolt]

Hi snowbirds!



We are looking to buy a fake year this year. I dont even know what to look for, besides I want one that looks real. We have never had one. I always have loved having a real tree. But with the price we paid last year for a tree made me faint. We should have bought one at th end of the season, my sister said.

It is the opposite in our house. I grew up with a fake tree, however my husband loves real trees. So each year now we compromise he gets the real tree and I get to place my Boyd's Angel Bear Tree topper on it LOL!! (He'd prefer a star...but we compromise).

 

[pamouselover]

OMG you guys are like my crazy friend. I decorate for thanksgiving, and she calls saying her DH is outside hanging lights. I cant do Christmas till after Thanksgiving. I get so tired of it. I do have a Mickey wreath that DH bought me last year for my birthday. I have to post a pic when I DO get it out. I am asking for a waffle maker this year, I know I am so practical. I have only wanted one for like ten years now. DD said she will make sure DH buys me one this year. Ok, about trees. We paid $80 last year. I know...crazy. I was looking at the pre-lite ones. Do they last long? I assume they have warranties on them.

Yes, I finally did it!! I just love Alice! She's just so darn nosey!!!!

Good Morning my Snow Friends!!!

Hope all of you that had yesterday off got to enjoy it!!! It's still pretty wet & yucky here!!! Lots of thunder and lightning last night--I have to say I enjoyed it!! After we got home from ballet that is!!! It was sooo dark by 5:45 I could hardly see to drive!! Some of our little streets aren't lit very well.

Well,if I feel like it, I'll be getting out the Christmas stuff today!!!!
Pam ( I think it was Pam) was talking about the fake trees. Make sure you get one that's pre-lit, this is soooo much easier than winding those lights every time!!There are so many to choose from now-and most of them are really pretty. I can't believe how much some of our friends pay for real trees Makes mine look sooo cheap-especially because you can use them for so many years!! I am allergic to the real trees, so that's not even an option for me---Yet I live in the Piney Woods of Texas. Go figure no wonder I deal with allergies/sinuses!!!
Hope you find one you really love!!

I think I'll be pulling all the christmas stuff down from the attic this Saturday and start putting it all up on Sunday. DH is a complete kid when it comes to decorating for the holidays. We had over 11 giant rubbermade tubs full of just Halloween stuff. The Thanksgiving stuff thankfully only fills 3 tubs. When we pull the Christmas stuff down it takes up half of the garage (I want to make sure these thunderstorms pass first) We have several fake trees because Dh would love a tree in every room! Lovely in thought...but it's a lot of work.
The outside Christmas decorations we usually wait to put up Thanksgiving weekend. That way we can mow the yard one last time for the year before we put all the stuff out. (wishful thinking)

 

[sharadoc]

Hi snowbirds!



We are looking to buy a fake year this year. I dont even know what to look for, besides I want one that looks real. We have never had one. I always have loved having a real tree. But with the price we paid last year for a tree made me faint. We should have bought one at th end of the season, my sister said.

We bought a tree years ago that looked so real, nobody could believe it was fake. Nice and all, but the amount of work it took to put it up and take it down was TOO MUCH. Each branch had multiple branches that had to be fanned out and inserted one by one. By the time we put all our ornaments on it, I swear it was a minimum of 12 hours of assembly and decorating time. Now we have pre-lit trees that only need to be "fluffed up". Total time to put up and decorate, under two hours. Much more manageable.

My advice is to check the assembly of the tree you want to buy before you commit.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

My advice is to check the assembly of the tree you want to buy before you commit.

Good Advice!! Ours is kind of involved, but I make DH and the kids put the tree up, then the kids and I decorate! Of course, it does not look real.

Shelly - thanks for the Pop food court menu - I'm not staying there, but may in the future. Of course, since I just ate a pathetic little english muffin for breakfast about 2 hours, ago, now I'm starving. Got to go see if there's any treats around here!

 

[mana_liz]

Not a fan of the pre-lit trees...my grandma had one for 2 years and a section of the tree burned out and she had to buy a whole new tree...we have a fake tree but bought a stand that makes it rotate much easy to put the lights on...the tree does on the work.

 

[Dancegrl624]

My parents have two trees, both of which are fake. We've never had a real tree because my parents always thought they were too much work and didn't like to clean up the needles. I think they bought two brand new pre lit trees either last year or two years ago. They actually look quite real.

The tree in their front window has always been my moms tree. It's white lights and she has pearl garland that she hangs on it. I think she does pink ribbon as well. It's all of the really nice glass and crystal ornaments. Then, the tree in their family room is multi colored lights with gold garland. It's the famliy ornaments.....baby's first christmas, the ornaments my sisters and I made, etc. When my older sister and I moved out, my parents gave us a lot of our ornaments. My mom gives us an ornament every Christmas, so we sure do have a lot of them!

I can't wait to get out the Christmas stuff! It's so exciting! Even though I have a lot to do today, I'm off to get lunch with my older sister. Yummy! Later!

 

[mana_liz]

Shelly,

Thanks for the POP menu...that's where we are staying...DLS can't wait for the tye-dye cheesecake.

 

[sharadoc]

Shelly,

Thanks for the POP menu...that's where we are staying...DLS can't wait for the tye-dye cheesecake.

Speaking of POP, did any of you POP lovers see this page on the Legendary Years thread?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1391731&page=18

Apparently, Disney feels that POP's theme was a failure and plan to change it over to an Animation Theme, and build suites in the Legendary Years side. Apparently the occupancy rate doesn't equal the All-Stars rate, because only a certain age person thinks the pop culture themes are cool. Kids don't get most of the references, is what they think.

I think that sounds cool - Disney animation theming, so it would be like All-Star Movies, but even MORE. Plus more family suites. I know there are a lot of people who love POP who will be disappointed in this.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Shelly - thanks for the Pop food court menu - I'm not staying there, but may in the future. Of course, since I just ate a pathetic little english muffin for breakfast about 2 hours, ago, now I'm starving. Got to go see if there's any treats around here!

Shelly,

Thanks for the POP menu...that's where we are staying...DLS can't wait for the tye-dye cheesecake.

You're welcome!

 

[overthemoon4mickey]

I am allergic to the real trees, so that's not even an option for me---Yet I live in the Piney Woods of Texas. Go figure no wonder I deal with allergies/sinuses!!!
Hope you find one you really love!!

Oh girl! I hear ya! We live next to a state forest and yes, I too have bad allergies! I love the look and smell of real trees but living with one in my house is too much for my ol' honker! All this talk of trees made me remember the first year we were married....

Now I've told you all that DH is a holiday nut! every year growing up he and his family would go and chop down a tree at a tree farm. Every year they would get a tree so big that the star would have to go near the top but not on the top because the tree was touching the ceiling!

The first year we were married we decide to get a fresh tree. We splurged and got a big ol' 8 ft. Blue Spruce the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was so beautiful and had the most perfect shape! The nice little old gentleman who helped us told us the trick to keeping the tree alive and healthy was " a mixture of water, liquid vicks (the kind for a humidifier), vodka, and sprite". He calle "Tree Life Support" I'll admit that it did smell pretty festive going in the water reservoir and I'm sure the tree got quite a kick out of it! I know my wallet took a hit for both the tree and it's cocktail!

The tree looked beautiful and healthy for about 2 weeks.... Then one day as I walked by the living area near the kitchen the most horrid stench wafted up to my swollen and stuffed nose (allergies!) I couldn't quite place where the smell was coming from. I thought maybe the drip pan under the fridge? Maybe a wayward wrinkled potato in the pantry? Perhaps the dog got sick somewhere? Did I step in something? Had a small furry animal lived and died in our beautiful tree?

Oh, no no no, it smelled worse than any of those combined! The tree had taken the christmas cocktail and turned it into putrid funk! I thought that if we just kept adding the liquid the tree would be fine and make it the smell would go away.....I was so wrong! 2 days after I "discovered " the lovely holiday scent coming from our beautiful tree I told DH it was either keep the tree or get rid of all our possessions as they would soon smell so bad no amount of airing out would ever rid them of that terrible stench! It was really that bad! It smelled like someone was making feta cheese under an intense heat advisory...in my living room!

Out went our lovely tree.....Yes, we had to get rid of our tree BEFORE Christmas! In went the fake Christmas Trees ever since! When you start to associate the smell of old funky cheese with Christmas....... It's time to go plastic!

 

[mana_liz]

Speaking of POP, did any of you POP lovers see this page on the Legendary Years thread?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1391731&page=18

Apparently, Disney feels that POP's theme was a failure and plan to change it over to an Animation Theme, and build suites in the Legendary Years side. Apparently the occupancy rate doesn't equal the All-Stars rate, because only a certain age person thinks the pop culture themes are cool. Kids don't get most of the references, is what they think.

I think that sounds cool - Disney animation theming, so it would be like All-Star Movies, but even MORE. Plus more family suites. I know there are a lot of people who love POP who will be disappointed in this.

Sounds interesting...though I enjoy the theming of POP and I'm 26. My DLS really likes it as well, she picked it over the All-Star resorts for this trip.

The new theme ideas sound good though...very Disney...which is I guess were they want to go.

 

[Pluto_fan]

The first year we were married we decide to get a fresh tree. We splurged and got a big ol' 8 ft. Blue Spruce the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was so beautiful and had the most perfect shape! The nice little old gentleman who helped us told us the trick to keeping the tree alive and healthy was " a mixture of water, liquid vicks (the kind for a humidifier), vodka, and sprite". He calle "Tree Life Support" I'll admit that it did smell pretty festive going in the water reservoir and I'm sure the tree got quite a kick out of it! I know my wallet took a hit for both the tree and it's cocktail!

The tree looked beautiful and healthy for about 2 weeks.... Then one day as I walked by the living area near the kitchen the most horrid stench wafted up to my swollen and stuffed nose (allergies!) I couldn't quite place where the smell was coming from. I thought maybe the drip pan under the fridge? Maybe a wayward wrinkled potato in the pantry? Perhaps the dog got sick somewhere? Did I step in something? Had a small furry animal lived and died in our beautiful tree?

Oh, no no no, it smelled worse than any of those combined! The tree had taken the christmas cocktail and turned it into putrid funk! I thought that if we just kept adding the liquid the tree would be fine and make it the smell would go away.....I was so wrong! 2 days after I "discovered " the lovely holiday scent coming from our beautiful tree I told DH it was either keep the tree or get rid of all our possessions as they would soon smell so bad no amount of airing out would ever rid them of that terrible stench! It was really that bad! It smelled like someone was making feta cheese under an intense heat advisory...in my living room!

Out went our lovely tree.....Yes, we had to get rid of our tree BEFORE Christmas! In went the fake Christmas Trees ever since! When you start to associate the smell of old funky cheese with Christmas....... It's time to go plastic!

Oh, Becky, this is the funniest thing I've read in a long time! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Good afternoon Snowbirds!
OK, I'm all caught up from everything I've missed since Monday afternoon. DH had the day off yesterday and I didn't get around to DISing.

In-laws...don't get me started! I guess we're all "quirky" in our own special ways.

Christmas trees...we've always had a real tree. It is a pain to clean up afterwards, especially since we always procrastinate on taking it down until it's REALLY dead. This year we'll have a deadline...since we're leaving for WDW on January 18! We did buy an artificial tree a few years ago, on after-Christmas clearance at Target. We knew we were going to be moving to Korea and didn't think we'd be able to buy a real tree there. It's a "slim" one, since we knew we wouldn't have a lot of space (which is putting it mildly). It doesn't look all that real, but it serves its purpose! So now we put the fake one in the living room with the boring ornaments, and the real one in the family room with the more personal ornaments.

I got an email from Disney Destinations with a pin code! "Kids 3-9 stay, play and dine for FREE when you purchase one of these 5-Night/5-Day vacation packages which include room, Theme Park tickets and Disney Dining Plan." If my 10-year-old were still 9 this might be helpful, but since he's not it's not a good deal for us. But I'm wondering if I should call anyway, just to stay on their list of "potentially interested, keep her on the pin mailings list"?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Becky!!! That was soooo funny!!! I could just see it! I worked at the bank the year before Mike and I got married, and they had a huge, HUGE real tree--I was soooo sick I could hardly get to work. I got the worst sinus infection!! And there was no getting away from it--I was the closest teller to the darn thing!!!!! Of course, my in-laws to be pegged me as a 'hypocondriac' right then. And every Christmas, it was "Poor Mike, he has to have a FAKE tree. It's not even like a real Christmas for him anymore". God give me patience!!!! So, I had to have fake-what it the point of getting real just to say it's real and then be so sick you are the the Dr.s office every Christmas seasom??? Okay, no more in-law talk---I promise!!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Becky---I checked on Cont. this morning and the flights are at $210!! I told Mike he better get it today! I don't remember them being this low for the last 5 years!!!!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Out went our lovely tree.....Yes, we had to get rid of our tree BEFORE Christmas! In went the fake Christmas Trees ever since! When you start to associate the smell of old funky cheese with Christmas....... It's time to go plastic!

Oh my gosh...that's the funniest thing!!!