Keeping the holiday spirit alive all year round

By Karla DeLuca

Cox News Service

 "Aren't you going to ask me about the Christmas tree?" I asked my sister Sharla.

 She said, well, yes, now that I had brought it up, she had noticed it — but she wasn't going to mention it.

 None of us believed that for a second. Sharla might not have mentioned it then, to me, standing in my living room, but I'd have bet good money that she would have brought it up to my mother and my sister Marla before the wheels of her car left my driveway on the way home.

 "So you've had your tree up since before Christmas?" she said.

 "That's right," I said. "Since Christmas — 2005."

 "It's a holiday tree," I explained. "Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day."

 I'm sure Sharla wouldn't have mentioned it, but the tree was a little skimpy on ornaments symbolic of St. Paddy's arrival in Ireland, bringing Christianity with him. But I could tell she was looking for it, so I pointed out the handblown glass pickle, which I said gave the tree a touch of green.

 I should point out that my Christmas tree isn't green, it's white. The ornaments aren't red and green, they're either a neutral color or they're handblown replicas of fruit. So it's not as if I'm a total kook.

 But as if to make me more comfortable with my eccentricity, Sharla shares with me how one of her friends keeps a Christmas tree up all year too.

 "It's decorated with her Barbies."

 Barbies, as in actual dolls, not ornaments with a Barbie theme.

 I wasn't going to mention it, but I did wonder how her friend managed to decorate a Christmas tree with Barbies. My first thought was that they were perched on the branches, but as Barbie's legs don't bend at the knees, their legs would be sticking straight out. Not a good look. Then I thought that maybe they were hanging on the tree with the branches under both arms. Then I realized their arms don't bend at the elbows, either.

 Then I thought that they must be suspended on the tree. That would make sense. A lot more sense than me wasting time trying to figure out how to decorate a tree with Barbie dolls. But still, I did.

 I wasn't going to mention how there really was no comparison between me and a middle-aged woman who would decorate a Christmas tree with Barbies, then make a conscious decision to leave it up all year.

 I hadn't made a conscious decision to leave the tree up all year. In fact, I distinctly remember announcing plans to take it down in early February 2006, which was only about six to eight weeks after Christmas.

 Some people like to rush the season, others like to slow it down. I don't see why one should be any more unusual than the other.

 And I would have taken the tree down, too, if my daughter, Amanda, hadn't made some smart-alecky remark about how long Christmas was going to be celebrated in the DeLuca household. Being somewhat of a smart-aleck myself, I replied that it wasn't a Christmas tree, it was a holiday tree and Valentine's Day was a holiday.

 Then somehow, every time I started to take it down, she was there, pointing out that there was a holiday in just about every month. Except April, so I said I'd take it down then.

 But she pointed out that her birthday was in April, and while I did think her birth was rather miraculous, I wasn't sure it was quite on par with that of the Savior. Still, it was a happy occasion, so I bought an ornament shaped like a slice of birthday cake and added it to the tree.

 Before I knew it, it was summer, and when yuletide decorations hit the shelves in August, I figured there was no point taking it down then, when Christmas was just around the corner.

 So it wasn't as if I said to myself that I was going to set up a Christmas tree in the living room and keep it decorated all year round. With Barbie dolls.

 But I didn't want to mention this to Sharla, so I just said. "That's nice."

 And the tree is coming down this weekend.

Amanda's Kooky Cookies

2 c. sugar

3 sticks butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. coconut

1 c. sunflower kernels

 Mix ingredients together. Mixture will be very crumbly. Shape into balls. Bake on cookie sheet for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

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 Karla DeLuca is editor and publisher of The Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches, Texas. Her e-mail address is kdeluca@coxnews.com.