When do you put up your tree 🌲

justdoit19

justdoit19

Proud parent of an ANG, USNA X2, and a MidSib
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Driving around last night I noticed some trees up, and lights on.

For some fun, if you celebrate Christmas, when do you put up your tree?

It’s after Thanksgiving, for us.

🌲
 
justdoit19 said:
Driving around last night I noticed some trees up, and lights on.

For some fun, if you celebrate Christmas, when do you put up your tree?

It’s after Thanksgiving, for us.

🌲
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Thanksgiving weekend for lights...we do a real tree so I like to wait until 1st week of December so it's not dry by Xmas.

Definitely have neighbors using the "light service" who all have them up already. Like the idea of not having to do the work but hate how standardized they all look.
 
Fake tree. Went up on Saturday. Might’ve done it this coming weekend, but DD and I are at USAFA for FVE. We travel for Thanksgiving, so putting up creates a bit of a time crunch. Also, DS (4) *loves* it, so why not have it up for longer?
 
Georgia Hokie said:
Thanksgiving weekend for lights...we do a real tree so I like to wait until 1st week of December so it's not dry by Xmas.

Definitely have neighbors using the "light service" who all have them up already. Like the idea of not having to do the work but hate how standardized they all look.
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Yeah, more and more in the neighborhood have those light service contracts. I agree, they all look similar. If everyone had them, probably would make the entire neighborhood look good, but not happening.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so Halloween stuff is gone Nov 1st. Christmas isnt allowed until Black Friday.
 
By tradition, we carefully select the blue spruce for cutting, and put it up on Black Friday. Any diversion to avoid the stores at all cost on that dreaded day.
 
... up.
 

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Definitely NOT until after Thanksgiving.

However, I talked to my elderly parents last night on the phone. They were very pleased to report that they got their tree up already! My brother had stopped by the house and put their fake tree together for them. Then they said it took them three days to get all the decorations on.

I think for them, having it up sooner gives them more time to enjoy it. And my Dad told me he figures he'll keep it up until the end of January. When you are older and it's just two of you in the house, having the tree and the lights probably adds a bit of wamth and cheer during a time of year when things can be a bit dark and lonely.
 
Sometime after Thanksgiving.

I have fond memories of legendary “Elf Parties.” When DH and I were both AD, we would invite all single officers at our commands over on a Sunday afternoon. We have also done this with the USNA sponsor mid family on a Saturday. The “working parties” would help bring stuff out of storage, exterior door decorations and other exterior items, interior house and mantel decorations, artificial tree (at one time we had a massive one to suit the quarters we were in, artificial because I get itchy hives from certain evergreen resins), the “engineers” worked on the lights, and everyone enjoyed hanging ornaments. Meanwhile, the mulled apple cider steamed, tasty snacks abounded, and then a full-on lavish buffet dinner on big square wooden plates from the Phillippines (some of you know those) while we sat around and admired everything. Sometimes I bought elf hats from WalMart and we were very festive. I wore my leopard print Santa hat. DH wore his USNA blue and gold Santa hat. All done in a few hours of mutual fun. Rather like Tom Sawyer getting people to paint a fence…

Made a nice occasion for those not traveling home on leave or getting home too late to enjoy the holiday prep.

We especially enjoy having international mids over. Our Peruvian sponsor daughter, who came from a potato-centric cuisine country, was totally immersed in making twice-baked potatoes with me. Completely new to her.
 
pa-outdoorsman said:
Definitely NOT until after Thanksgiving.

However, I talked to my elderly parents last night on the phone. They were very pleased to report that they got their tree up already! My brother had stopped by the house and put their fake tree together for them. Then they said it took them three days to get all the decorations on.

I think for them, having it up sooner gives them more time to enjoy it. And my Dad told me he figures he'll keep it up until the end of January. When you are older and it's just two of you in the house, having the tree and the lights probably adds a bit of wamth and cheer during a time of year when things can be a bit dark and lonely.
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I’m entering the stage of my life, where I would take advantage of one of my kiddos stropping by to get assistance, vs doing it on our own. Also, that same stage seems to result in things taking longer than they did 20 yrs ago (no desire to bang out a 12 hr session of putting on ornaments. Opting to take a few days, instead).

Also, not having toddlers around to mess with them is a bonus in the ‘keep it up a long time’ dept. As a parent of 4, close together, there were years that I dreaded having a tree at all.

Circle of life!!
 
We have never had a standard time to put it up because of our careers and commitments, but there has always a push-pull between Mrs. Stealth and myself. (She watches Hallmark Christmas movies all year, and my spirit animal is named Ebenezer.)
This year, I came back to our Wisconsin place last Thursday for deer hunting season up here. Mrs. Stealth took advantage of that and had the tree up in the St. Petersburg house before my plane landed in ORD.
 
We used to be out there cutting on the first weekend in December, but in the past 5-6 years since the kids are mostly gone we've been getting trees from the lots. You have to strike a balance between early enough to get a decent tree and late enough so the needles aren't on the floor too soon, so maybe the second weekend in Dec. And there are years when we travel on Dec 25 or 26 and we stick to the small fake that used to be the kids' tree. (That was the place where they were allowed to do whatever they wanted, mostly to keep the young orangutans from defoliating the real one.)
 
Capt MJ said:
big square wooden plates from the Phillippines (some of you know those)
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When I was an married Ensign, my then-wife and I really admired the large square wooden plates at my skipper's house. We then learned that my department head had a set as well. We wanted some but the ship was under construction and not going to the PI, or Haiti (East coast source) so I had to improvise. During our shakedown cruise to Rio, I happened to glance at the Navy Exchange catalog (which was then only available when outside the US) and spotted large square wooden plates - in sets of 4. A couple of months later when we returned to the US, I received 10 boxes with our 40 plates.
We got to use them a few times over the years, and when we split up, we each took 20. I still have 'em though I haven't used them in a very long time.
 
I walked over the SRB in Olongopo more than once and never saw a square wooden plate. :confused:

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OldRetSWO said:
When I was an married Ensign, my then-wife and I really admired the large square wooden plates at my skipper's house. We then learned that my department head had a set as well. We wanted some but the ship was under construction and not going to the PI, or Haiti (East coast source) so I had to improvise. During our shakedown cruise to Rio, I happened to glance at the Navy Exchange catalog (which was then only available when outside the US) and spotted large square wooden plates - in sets of 4. A couple of months later when we returned to the US, I received 10 boxes with our 40 plates.
We got to use them a few times over the years, and when we split up, we each took 20. I still have 'em though I haven't used them in a very long time.
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Best plates for buffet and lap-balancing using knife and fork. I have 20 left. Baby them with hand washing. I think they were a buck or so a plate back in the day. Monkey pod or acacia wood.
 
It was a rite of passage. I saw my first ones at a buffet dinner at an admiral’s house. His wife briefed me into the program, and how useful they were for inside or outdoor buffet or bbq events. I used to re-stock from the old paper NEX catalog or the NEX at Pearl Harbor.

Here are the above-oven storage bays. There are more plates behind the ready-grab ones in the front. Mine are 12x12. And yes, that’s a well-used monkeypod salad bowl next bay over.

And yes, I grab one of those plates, layer paper towels on it, and use it more often than not for bacon. The bacon crumbles pic I posted recently in the Bacon Thread was on one of those plates on a paper towel.

I did a quick google shopping search “acacia monkey pod wooden plates” - lots of hits and price ranges.

And yes, too, that magnet lives there all the time.


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justdoit19 said:
Driving around last night I noticed some trees up, and lights on.

For some fun, if you celebrate Christmas, when do you put up your tree?

It’s after Thanksgiving, for us.

🌲
Click to expand...
Lol this question can be so controversial, a lot of ppl have very radical opinions of when exactly one should put up Christmas decor, play Christmas music, etc. Personally, as soon as Halloween is over, we put up our Christmas lights. Then, after Diwali is over, we put up our Christmas tree! My family's not Christian or Catholic, but we love being with family & friends in any holiday spirit so we always celebrate anyways! Putting up lights & trees early gives me something to look forward to, since midterm & finals week are right before winter break. The extra push of motivation! LOL
 
We have a long-standing agreement in my home... We put the tree(s) up the day after Thanksgiving and I also bring down the 37 boxes of Christmas decorations for my wife from the attic, and she allows me to go deer hunting the following week.
 
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