So how was your week? Well, we’re happy to say that this week, Christmas Exploded in our house!

As the title of the Christmas song written in 1951 by Meredith Willson says, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” especially at 854 Pennlyn Place! Susie and I have always been Christmas lovers and it probably ranks as our favorite holiday of the year. Even without the retail world diving onto Christmas shortly after they finish the “Back To School Sales,” once summer is gone, and our three kid’s’ birthdays in November are past, it’s the next thing on our radar! In fact, way back on Christmas Day, 1978, I asked Susie to marry me, so December 25, 2023 will not only be Christmas but the 45th Anniversary of the day she said YES! Hard to forget memories like that!

When the kids were smaller, we always took a trip to Pennsylvania’s Amish area right around Billy’s November 3rd birthday, and that always signaled the start of listening to Christmas music in our car. This year is no different as we have been listening to Christmas music and watching Hallmark Christmas movies for over a month! I know a lot of people have a rule that there is no Christmas in the house till after Thanksgiving, but sorry, we just can’t wait for (to quote another song title) “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”

We will have owned this house in Ocean City for 19 years come January 28th, 2024, and right from the first year, there was always a Christmas presence in this house. Since Christmas of 2005, we have always come to Ocean City right after Christmas Day and many years stayed here to my January 2nd birthday, so it was important to us that Christmas was here too! It might have been a tabletop 4 foot tree from Michaels and a $5 Manger from Big Lots, but the celebration always followed us to the shore!

Once we sold the Mineola house, and officially became Ocean City residents (November of 2017), our home decorations traveled to Ocean City, and our Christmases became supersized, or “Christmas vomited all over the house,” as our friend Sue likes to say! It may be hard to believe, but we have indeed downsized a lot of our Christmas display, so just imagine what it used to look like!

The Tree

I have to say that Susie is the main architect of our Christmas decorations, with me and whoever else is around playing a distant second fiddle! Of course, the Tree is the major player in the celebration, being the symbol of the season to many!

Our tree is an amalgamation of 44+ years of our life together, hitting highlights from our kid’s lives and ours. Every year, as Susie unpacks the ornaments, we remember where we got them, and what they signify. When we came to live full-time in OC, we brought the tree that had blessed our living room in Mineola for many years. A little furniture rearrangement, and it fit fine. A pre-lit tree, over the years, more and more lights had stopped working, and 2 years ago we had to add 10+ additional strands of lights! It was time to go! Last year we replaced it with a new tree, and we were sure we screwed up and got too big a tree. This year when we put it up, we realized we were wrong…this tree is perfect!

The Manger

As they say, the Reason for the Season, the manger, is a very special part of our Christmas celebration and this one is not from Big Lots! No, back in 1979, Susie bought this manger at Abraham and Straus (commonly called A & S, but sadly no longer exists), and it has been a part of every one of our Christmases through the years!

Snowman Village

What can I say, Susie likes Snowmen! Back in Mineola, this village spread out across our entertainment center in the living room. It had more room then, but now a slightly abbreviated version takes over our bar each Christmas! Who needs to drink at Christmas, right?

Toasting Flutes

Speaking about drinking at Christmas, our very first Christmas, Susie bought these Christmas “Toasting Flutes” at Stern’s (again, gone), and they have been a part of our Christmas every year since! They come out traditionally when we are decorating the tree, and are always a part of our Midnight Christmas Eve celebrations. They get washed carefully after each use, and get put back in their original box, and are in the middle of their 45th Christmas with us! Thanks to some investigating on EBay, I’m happy to say that all three of our kids have a set too…a continuing D’Elia Family Tradition!

So that’s how our week went! Come back again as we weekly celebrate the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

How was your week???