I am ashamed to admit this. But here goes. Today I went into my formal dining room. A room that is only used on the holidays. It has doors on each end which we keep closed. Lo and behold there sat the Christmas tree. Still decorated. My DH had moved it out from in front of the Bay window. But, that's as far as it ever got. I got a box out and started to take the bulbs off and then it hit me. It's almost September, might as well leave it up and just scoot it back in front of the window at Christmas time. LOL. I don't know where I've been the last 7 months or so, but probably on the darn treadmill. Certainly not in the dining room. LOL. I cleaned the room, dusted and vacuumed and just left it there. Now is this the epitomy of laziness or what?

I wouldn't call it lazy, I'd say wise.

Funny you should mention that. Was watching an episode of Sell this House Sunday and the people had their tree up in the dining room. They all (the family, mom, dad, son & DD) agreed it was pretty and they liked it so why not keep it up year round. Well, it was spring and they were trying to sell the house, lol. I know this year when we put ours up we don't know how long it will stay up. My DS will miss Christmas with us in December but I want him to have Christmas when he gets home and we have no clue when that will be..he is serving in Iraq. But we will see what comes first, him coming home or me getting sick of looking at it. I don't have a closed off dining room...it's all open. Anyway...look at it this way...you have an early start on the decorating!

Hey we did take the lights down off the outside of the house in April, so that was progress. Lol
Christina, I hope your son makes it home soon from Iraq. My son is in the Army but is currently stateside.

My mother left her tree up all year one year--in the living room. You should convert your dining room to something else so you can use it all year long--as long as the tree still fits.

We are building a house and would have liked to include some kind of tree closet in the living room, but the plan didn't allow for it.

I really have a lot more rooms than I need already. There is only me, DH and DD living here. I keep the vents closed in the rooms that aren't in use. We have 5 bedrooms , 3 baths, and a large game room where my exercise stuff is at, plus that dining room, a utility room, and a computer room. At the time we bought the house, my kids were younger and I had 4 step-daughters that visited often. I plan to sell this house after DD graduates in 4 yrs. and buy a small cabin at the lake. I love this place, but it's certainly more than we need. I can't afford a housekeeper, but I wish I could. I have to clean it in stages, it's too much to do all at once. The way my luck has been , it won't be too long before one of the kids move back, they never stay away too long.lol

HAHA that post made me laugh. I wouldn't have taken it down either... lol what's another couple months. Now that being said, I still have my Christmas wreath on my front door. My reasoning behind it is that it doesn't look too christmassy... it's made up of a whole bunch of red berries. They way I see it is it's better than nothing, and hey, christmas is just around the corner!

Thanks you LilyBelle! And give your son hugs and a big THANK YOU for serving our country. I have seen a lot of people not take down their lights around the house. Unfortunately we have a HOA and their little rules say no outdoor decorations past Feb 2 or something like that. Of course we've never left them up past New Years but there are people who leave them up until late Feb/early March and...they have them on!

I think you should keep it up. It's only 4 months til christmas. And it's pretty right?

Sarah

HAHAHAHAHA, that's great. When friends and family stop by in thanksgiving, you tell them you're sooo on top of things, you've got christmas all covered!

LOL....I was webcamming with a friend one time, and he says 'um...is that a Christmas tree I see in the background?' Me: 'yesssss'...Him: 'Uh, Kim, it's May!'...lol. I was waiting for hubby to get home from overseas so we could have Christmas with him! After the friend saw that he told everyone and alot of friends and family had to see it too...lol. At least yours was hidden, we had it in the central room.

Kim

This is funny. The reason we finally got around to taking the lights off the outside of the house and the trees in April was, someone accidentally plugged them in outside one night. They thought they had just plugged in an extra freezer in the garage to put bags of ice in. Our neighbors (that are friends told us about them the next day). We all had a good laugh. They were left on all night. Lol

Linds, WTG on the Christmas wreath. We've just got a jump start on Christmas this year.

Lily,

I am not sure how you can have your tree up all year long, i am WAY too anal retentive and i just couldnt do it. My grandmother used to do that and the whole family would give her such a hard time that i think it left all the kids and grandkids scarred for life. If you like it and its out of the way, good for you. I personally would hyperventilate if that were my house. Sometimes, i wish i could be a little more laid back. Enjoy the tree!

VelVeeta, since it's out of sight, it's out of mind. If it were where visitors could see it, I'd freak and have to take it down. I am anal-retentive about a lot of things around here. The kitchen, living room, bathrooms and such have to be spotless. But a room that is only used at Holidays, Nope it can stay up.