My plans for a perfect family Christmas in France have changed. My daughter longs to go home to Maine and see her friends and family there. My eldest son is ambivalent about traveling so far to a country where so many people speak a foreign language. I have had to think about what is most important to me about the upcoming holiday and make the necessary changes. Obviously what matters most to me is being with my family. It really doesn’t matter where. So I have pivoted and I will return to Maine for a couple of weeks to see family and friends and then return to France to begin a new year.

Of course, we had planned to celebrate here, so I shipped most of our decorations to France. I decided to go ahead a decorate. One of my favorite parts of the holiday is the decorating and ability to sit by a lit tree and view the familiar ornaments remembering Christmases past. I have never had an artificial tree before and frankly shuddered at the thought of it, but this year it would have to be artificial for me to safely leave it while I travel to the United States.

Just for your information, artificial Christmas trees are big business. They vary in price based on their ability to look real and there is quite a range. I found a pre-lit tree that at 7 foot high and looks very real at night. Less so in the day. I bought mine from Eminza. It was easy to assemble and overall I’m really happy with it. It was not cheap, but I think this is one of the things that one should pursue quality with.

Seeing as I wasn’t going to be in my French house for very long this holiday season, I broke all my previously held rules for the commencement of decorating at began the week of Thanksgiving. I used to think that what made it special was waiting and shortening the experience, but as I’ve aged I have realized it is special whenever you have it. Why not enjoy it a little bit longer?

I set up my tree while listening to Christmas music and smiled to myself remembering the stories behind some of the ornaments. I took out the Santa from my mom that rocks on a balance, and decorated the mantles with greenery, white lights and angels collected over the years. I did the snow scene last as that is something Lily and Parker work on and when I looked around I was pretty pleased. It is different but it is a good different.

Yesterday I made two wreaths to decorate my front doors. I used the grapevine base Stella brought me when I moved here and another that I had made from vine in my yard. I used cypress, laurel and other greens from my backyard. They turned out a bit wild and unkempt, but I love them all the same.

Sitting around looking at my cozy home, I decided I had to have a holiday party to celebrate the season. I am anxious to have my new friends over and share some of the special foods I make each year.