Pre-Xmas chez Cal & Eric

[bjarvis]

As part of our holiday tradition, we spend the day with Cal & Eric at their home in Manassas, VA, helping to decorate their house for the holidays.

Christmas is a Really Big Deal for Cal so there are a number of trees to be decorated in various rooms, each with specific boxes of ornaments. And then there's the lights for the eaves of the house, the front porch, the shrubs and so on. And the misc decorations around the various common spaces within the house. In all, it's an all-day affair.

Earlier in the day, Mike & Keith had decorated the tree in the master bedroom. cuyahogarvr, kent4str and I arrived shortly after 3 PM and started working on the large tree in the family room while Darby and Cal did exterior lights and Eric and Mark worked on the tree in the sitting room. As time went on, Team KruForJar moved on to the smaller trees in the study and in the office; Bill & Dave arrived later to work on the tree in the guest room while Patrick worked on the foyer display.

After much decorating, we had a large dinner of far too much chinese food, then lounged in the hot tub for a while.

We were home around 2 AM. I've done my holiday schtick for this year. :-)

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As part of our holiday tradition, we spend the day with Cal & Eric at their home in Manassas, VA, helping to decorate their house for the holidays.

Christmas is a Really Big Deal for Cal so there are a number of trees to be decorated in various rooms, each with specific boxes of ornaments. And then there's the lights for the eaves of the house, the front porch, the shrubs and so on. And the misc decorations around the various common spaces within the house. In all, it's an all-day affair.

Earlier in the day, Mike & Keith had decorated the tree in the master bedroom. <lj site="livejournal.com" user="cuyahogarvr">, <lj site="livejournal.com" user="kent4str"> and I arrived shortly after 3 PM and started working on the large tree in the family room while Darby and Cal did exterior lights and Eric and Mark worked on the tree in the sitting room. As time went on, Team KruForJar moved on to the smaller trees in the study and in the office; Bill & Dave arrived later to work on the tree in the guest room while Patrick worked on the foyer display.

After much decorating, we had a large dinner of far too much chinese food, then lounged in the hot tub for a while.

We were home around 2 AM. I've done my holiday schtick for this year. :-)

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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000ftagt/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000ftagt/s320x240" alt="<lj site="livejournal.com" user="bjarvis"> decorating a tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong><lj site="livejournal.com" user="bjarvis"> decorating a tree</strong><br />
Under duress, I swear!
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fwz6g/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fwz6g/s320x240" alt="Darby and Cal" height="240" width="320" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Darby and Cal</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fx859/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fx859/s320x240" alt="Decorated Deer" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Decorated Deer</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fy33z/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fy33z/s320x240" alt="Foyer Display" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Foyer Display</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fzqb2/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000fzqb2/s320x240" alt="Sideboard Display" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Sideboard Display</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g0h47/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g0h47/s320x240" alt="Living Room Tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Living Room Tree</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g11dt/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g11dt/s320x240" alt="Guest Room Tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Guest Room Tree</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g2g78/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g2g78/s320x240" alt="Sitting Room Tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Sitting Room Tree</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g3ezy/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g3ezy/s320x240" alt="Master Bedroom Tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Master Bedroom Tree</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g4hzf/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g4hzf/s320x240" alt="Study Tree" height="240" width="180" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Study Tree</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g5fhy/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g5fhy/s320x240" alt="Dining Room Display" height="240" width="320" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Dining Room Display</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g6kd0/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g6kd0/s320x240" alt="Hot tubbers!" height="240" width="320" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Hot tubbers!</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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<td><a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g721r/g47"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/bjarvis/pic/000g721r/s320x240" alt="Decorated House" height="240" width="320" border="0" /></a></td>
<td><strong>Decorated House</strong><br />
Manassas, VA 2007-12-08</td>
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Comments

[jss]

Dammit, there're too many towels in the way in the penultimate picture.

[apparentparadox]

I can see that all your Cleveland experience with decorating has come in handy, esp. with the stuffed and mounted animals.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I steal learn from the best! :-)

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

that was certainly MY initial response, too