#China Christmas Inflatables Decorations | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

atom-writings · 9 months

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hetalia axis & allies (+ canada) xmas headcanons

1.6k words ~ gender neutral headcanons

tw: uhhh christmas obviously. mention of religion and underwear?? uh... i think that's it

a/n: this is my first christmas as a jewish convert so that's been weird. anyway I just wanted something quick, so its mostly a list of gift ideas (:

America

Alfred is SUCH a huge Christmas fan. I mean, canonically he dresses up as Santa, so he goes all out for the entire month of December. He's been working on a huge holiday home display for decades, and it shows.

He plays Santa at his local mall during the weeks leading up to Christmas; and on the night of, he hands out hot cocoa outside his house. It's fun, but it also means he's a little distracted when it comes to you.

What he would get you: Posters of your favourite movies, super comfy pyjamas, expensive figures of characters you like, candy you like but never get for yourself, model planes or Legos for you two to build together, novelty pens, a stupid cowboy costume so you can match <3, those handmade coupons because he 1. Loves you and 2. Forgot about Christmas until yesterday

What he would want: Any video games, Funko Pops, vinyls of music he likes, those big packs of shirts (he is constantly running out of shirts because he rips or irreparably stains them,) Marvel comics, anything with an eagle on it, those mini wacky waving inflatable tube men things, bulk pens and pencils because he also breaks those constantly-

England

Arthur is not big into Christmas and never has been. He'll celebrate with you, but he's not going out when it comes to any aspect. If anything, he finds it a little exhausting getting gifts for everyone

But, he does adore walking around and looking at all the lights. He'll do that a couple times with you in December.

What he would get you: Any novel you’ve mentioned even once, tickets to a concert both of you will enjoy, classy jackets that fit you perfectly, cute keychains, fancy art supplies, fragrances that remind him of you, bags/purses that fit your style, CDs

What he would want: Sewing supplies (thread, new needles, new fabric scissors,) framed photos of the two of you, Doctor Who merch, foreign tea, a book on how to take care of your eyebrows properly (he will not learn otherwise,) slippers, those sarcastic magnets that all millennial women have at least one of, any ridiculous piece of merch with the union jack on it

France

Francis has very mixed feelings about Christmas. On one hand, he hates how consumerist it has become, but on the other hand, nothing makes him happier than seeing the joy the season brings to others.

Plus, he does enjoy giving and receiving presents. The music too? Wonderful. As long as you don't get too stressed out, the holiday should be perfect.

What he would get you: Tons of clothes; stuff that's already your style, and completely new stuff, room decorations (NOT posters,) a reservation at a nice restaurant, bracelets that he made for you, makeup (if you like that kind of thing,) candles that smell like his cologne, CHEESE

What he would want: Fancy fabric, any clothes (he doesn’t care what they are as long as you think they’d look good on him…) paintings or photography, literally ANYTHING creative you’ve made, hair ties (he loses at least 5 a day,) bird stuffed animals, (Basically anything! Francis is not picky)

China

Christmas is a new occurrence for Yao, and he isn't the biggest fan. He'll buy you stuff for it, but he would do that normally. The lights and the music aren't anything special to him either. Basically, he won't celebrate unless you want to.

What he would get you: Elaborate, very expensive jewellery, huge stuff like a car, Chinese cookbooks, traditional clothes that he made specifically to represent you (: luxury handbags (that he got at SUCH a good discount,) tons of weird off-brand merch of your favourite show, probably a nice meal too!

What he would want: Yao is hard to buy for. Soft robes, stuff to help with back pain, face masks, Hello Kitty keychains… reading glasses maybe?

Russia

Although he isn't as excited about Christmas as he is about the New Year, he still loves the holiday. It's a nice excuse to see family, and everyone is just so happy around the season! He's especially excited to celebrate it with you.

He's not the best at giving gifts, but he could be worse. Regardless of whether you like all of it, you're gonna get a lot of stuff.

(Also, he plays Santa for the kids sometimes. It's so cute-)

What he would get you: Random knick-knacks he probably found at a local market, knitted hats and gloves in your favourite colour, a scarf to match his, tickets to go somewhere warm on vacation, stuffed animals! books that made him think of you (usually philosophical or religious novels,) pretty rocks (:

What he would want: SUNFLOWERS! (This works for every occasion,) baked goods, clothes that aren’t 250 years old- new doilies and paintings to decorate his house, pictures of yourself, friendship bracelets, stuffed animals, if you can make a scarf somehow, DO THAT

North Italy

Feliciano cares about Christmas in a more religious way, but he's never mad about getting presents. So, he'll probably spend most of the day in church, but he still did put a lot of effort into getting you stuff you love.

What he would get you: Pajamas & bath robes, shitty romance novels that he wants you to read, weird hand-made knick-knacks, makeup, strange mugs that he found at a thrift store, a painting of you (: probably a pair of his boxers-

What he would want: New paint brushes, novelty pasta shapes, fancy jackets, any art that you’ve made (regardless of quality,) cat stuffed animals, The Ability To Get A Grip, skincare products, shiny garbage (For art purposes, duh,) those handmade coupon things

Germany

Ludwig does not enjoy Christmas particularly. He's terrible at giving gifts but he wants to so desperately that he spends all of winter stressing out about it. Yes, he's excited to see your reaction to his gifts, but at what cost?!

Although he does still like all the decorations at least. Maybe he just likes re-decorating though.

What he would get you: Puzzles you can complete together, soft sweaters, practical stuff you need (like book bags, lens cloths, that kind of thing,) stationery, reservations for private tours at museums you would find interesting, a subscription to whatever silly service you want (:

What he would want: Books about city planning, nerdy card games, a fun lanyard, a new coffee machine, those aroma-therapy diffuser things, household tools like vacuums and stuff (Get him an air fryer. He’s going to be fascinated.) stress balls, pens (He is boring.)

Japan

Kiku really has no particular feelings towards Christmas. If you weren't there, the most he would do was put up a mini tree. He's stressed out by both giving and receiving presents and is only willing to do that kind of thing if you want to.

What he would get you: Electronics, merch of your favourite Sanrio character, books that he thinks you’ll like, stickers, a bento box, comfy sweatpants, cute hairpins, plushies from your favourite media, a bunch of pillows, some obscure Japanese snacks too!

What he would want: Miku figures, posters, video games, manga, general nerdy stuff, history novels (he likes to correct them,) blackout curtains, cute face masks, a Polaroid camera, a guide on socialization (Seriously.) a knit scarf, if you can knit (:

South Italy

Romano desperately wants to care about Jesus more than getting gifts. He's a devout catholic, g*ddamnit! But... he does just really love eating baked goods and getting gifts more than anything. Getting together with family, the music, the lights, he just ADORES the holiday.

What he would get you: Blankets and pillows, your favourite snacks, clothes that are a little more revealing- cruise tickets (if going on wouldn’t be hell for you,) a journal where he wrote down all of the things he loves about you (completely honestly,) religious items, fancy perfumes

What he would want: Paintings from local artists, post-its (so he can finally remember SOMETHING,) anything with the Italian flag on it, stupid bumper stickers, pictures of the other nations that you’ve written insults on, fancy patterned scarves and fabric

Prussia

Like Alfred, Gilbert loves Christmas in a very childish way. He embraces that side of himself during the holidays and he'd love it if you joined him in that. He constantly insists on going out to see the lights, and he just can't get enough of Christmas movies. Even the bad ones (He's a Hallmark girlie.)

What he would get you: A vintage music box, hair dye, DVDs of your favourite movies (just to have,) stationery, random snacks he picked up from a gas station an hour ago, weirdly sentimental jewellery? Vintage journals, pictures of himself

What he would want: Coupons (???) goofy temporary tattoos, metal CDs, tea (he’s weirdly embarrassed about liking tea and doesn’t buy it for himself?) vintage maps that he can frame and hang up, probably like, WD40? DC comics, novelty trophies, Pokemon cards, video games

Canada

More than anything, Matthew loves winter. So, therefore, he loves Christmas! Seeing you smile when you open your gifts, he looks forward to it all season. It seems like the only time of year when everyone else is either as miserable or as happy as he is, so it's his favourite holiday.

Cuddling up in front of the fireplace with hot cocoa, watching some old Christmas movie, its all he wants.

What he would get you: Comfy hoodies, comfy slippers too, hot cocoa packs, big stuff like a new PC or fridge or smth- decorations for your room, face masks, fidget toys, novelty Canadian keychains, figures of your favourite characters, festive sweets (like candy-canes and stuff.)

What he would want: Anything with a maple leaf (yes, he wants MORE of that,) boring stuff like socks, wood-working tools or like a new snow shovel, fairy lights, DVDs (because he still uses them? Why.) a new phone case, gift cards (HES BORING,) pre-packaged crafts, lotion and cologne that smells like pine

merry christmas if you celebrate! this'll probably be the last full thing I post until 2024, so thanks to all you readers for sticking around this year (: you have no idea how much it means to me. i love yall. and to all a good night or whatever santa said

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le-sad-demiurge · 3 months

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"give a medieval child a Dorito" you have no imagination

Show a UV flashlight to a regency era person, then show them uranium glass

Give a weed brownie to an opium smoker in Manchurian ruled china

Give a karaoke machine to a victorian opera singer

Get one of those inflatable Christmas snowglobe decorations, give it to an imperial Russian noble, they'll fucking explode

Lastly give a bag of Takis to some Aztecs

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helenthelibrarian · 9 months

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Some festive fun with our ineffable husbands:)

The Whickber Street Shopkeepers’ and Traders’ Association had nearly come to blows over the Christmas lights. Nina had had THINGS TO SAY about the Christmas lights: she looked pointedly at Mr Brown of Brown’s World of Carpets as she remarked frostily about the overabundance of sparkly lights fulsomely draping the carpet store’s shopfront, and the feeble forty watt bulb arrangement dangled precariously from the lamppost outside her coffee shop. “Nobody buys bloody carpets at Christmas!” she shouted. “If I got a carpet for Christmas I’d roll it back up and shove it in - “

“Now, now”, said Mutt, the magic shop owner. “Season of goodwill, and all that.”

“That’s all very well, my good lady”, Mr Brown said, in a wheedling tone. “My January sale is the highlight of the Whickber festive season. Surely you don’t begrudge a little spotlight on my top-of-the-range rugs?”

“Top of the range? They’re even more threadbare than your moustache.”

Mr Brown bristled. “Personal remarks won’t win the argument, I think you’ll find.”

“No, but I’ll feel a whole lot better, you tweedy old coot!”

Mrs Sandwich cackled. She didn’t want any twinkly festive attention drawn to her own place of business, but she and her ladies relied very heavily on Nina’s coffee at the end of a working night, and they never turned down the free mince pies the barista put their way, so she was very firmly on Team Nina. Besides, Mr Brown bored her witless and this meeting was shaping up to be particularly tedious.

“Mr Brown, just sort yer lights out n make sure our Nina gets her full share of the light-up snowmen n the blow-up polar bear, or - “ and here she dropped her voice and whispered in his ear, “I'll reveal the true identity of the Whickber Street Knicker Nicker.”

Mr Brown cleared his throat. “Aha, well, no problem about the festive inflatables, Nina. Nine o’clock tomorrow morning alright with you?”

Nina gave a thin smile. “Splendid. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Mr Fell sighed. He hated meetings, but after the debacle of the bookshop ball, he felt obliged to host this one. Most of the shopowners had had their memories, ahem, rearranged after the demons attacked his shop, so they were delighted to visit his fancy antiquarian bookseller business for - as far as they were concerned - the very first time; Maggie and Nina, however, were a different matter. He had tried to miracle a little memory loss in both of them, but they were strangely resistant. Crowley had suggested there was something not quite right with them; were they occult? “No, surely not, my dear. We’d have certainly detected them as such.”

“Well, it’s bloody awkward every time I see them, angel. I’m sure they blame me.”

“You did trap them in the shop. And you’ve never attended that anger management course we talked about.”

Crowley had said he usually had no reason to get angry except when Aziraphale did something exceptionally silly, which was all the time. There was very nearly a row.

Aziraphale let it pass, however. “It’s nearly Christmas, Crowley. Let’s not fall out.”

Crowley growled. “Alright, but you’re off my Christmas list. I haven’t written to Satan yet.”

“Santa.”

“I know what I said, angel.”

“Will you stay for the meeting, dear?”

“Not even at gunpoint. I’m off to the pub. If there’s any demonic activity I’ll be straight over. To the airport. You’re on your own with this one.”

Aziraphale had spent the afternoon before the meeting decorating a buffet table with candles, greenery, glasses and china. “There: positively Instagrammable! Whatever that is”, he said to himself. The buffet was laden with canapes and finger food, a few bottles of sherry (not the best sort; he might be generous but he wasn’t an idiot), and some Christmas crackers. He found a few Christmas LPs - Jim Reeves, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, all daringly modern - and placed them by the gramophone, ready for the post-meeting jollification.

Aziraphale was chairing the meeting, so it was the quickest one they’d ever had. The sooner they were all on the sherry, the better. “Well, everyone, if we’re all agreed on the Christmas lights, shall we call this meeting to a close?”

A grateful chorus of oh yes, please, rose from the attendees. Maggie got up, stretched her legs, and took Nina aside as they joined the queue for the buffet. “There was no need to be quite so rude with Mr Brown, you know.”

“Hah, he deserved it. And anyway, I’m hangry. What’s on the buffet? Anything suitable?”

Maggie picked up a plate and napkin. “Hmm, pickled onions, salad, garlic bread…”

“Any mini sausage rolls? I love mini sausage rolls.”

“Oh yes, lots. Mr Fell’s outdone himself on the comestibles.”

Nina was about to pick one up, but Maggie stopped her. “I hate to say this, but I don’t think we can eat these.”

“WHAT? I’m absolutely starving. What’s the matter with them?”

Mr Fell, fussing with the cheese and pineapple on sticks arranged into the shape of a hedgehog, overheard this. “Oh no, my dear. Whatever is the matter?”

Nina burst into tears, an unfortunate by-product of having not eaten since breakfast and a particularly trying apprentice barista. She wailed, “They’ve got meat in them, haven’t they?”

Mr Fell’s face sank. “Ah, I’m afraid they do.”

“Well then, I can’t have them. And it’s Christmas! And I’m very tired! And Maggie’s present won’t come before the big day now because the delivery company is rubbish, and I hate sprouts, and - “

Mr Fell took her arm. “My dear Nina. Leave it with me. Have a sherry. Not a big one or you’ll be squiffy in no time.”

He rang Crowley, who answered with, “Absolutely not, angel.”

“But you’ve no idea what I was about to ask.”

“If it’s anything to do with the meeting, the answer’s no.”

“Crowley, do stop it. It’s about Nina.”

“Oh god, is something occult happening? I knew she and that missus of hers were dodgy.”

“Nothing of the sort. I just want you to run along to Gregg’s for something.”

Crowley laughed incredulously. “You what? Have you ever been in a Gregg’s? You, angel?”

“No, but they do have something Nina needs. Now, here’s the list…”

By the time Crowley returned with his parcel, Nina was ugly crying into her third sherry. Maggie was trying to console her, and Aziraphale was trying to separate an increasingly oleaginous Mr Brown and a furious Mrs Sandwich over the blinis.

Crowley never ceased to marvel at the chaos humans so easily manufactured without the least assistance from himself. This party was shaping up to be quite the pandemonium he had always privately hoped for but not had the opportunity to, um, assist, while Aziraphale was around. He would tease him about this later. In the meantime, he sauntered over to Nina and handed her a Christmas present.

“From me and Mr Fell. Happy Christmas, Nina.”

Nina sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “What’s this? It’s warm. Ew, it’s not a joke thing, is it?”

Maggie tutted and then smiled. “Just open it, darling.”

Nina did. Inside the Gregg’s packet was a perfectly baked, golden, meat-free sausage roll. It steamed gently among its wrappings, smelling heavenly.

“Oh”, she said. “Oh.” And burst into tears all over again.

“Do eat it, my dear”, said Aziraphale. “You’ll feel a great deal better.”

Nina ate it, savouring every last mouthful. The sausage roll worked its magic - warm, tasty, infinitely better than any meat-based sausage roll. She licked a finger and scooped up all the crumbs of pastry. At last, she smiled beatifically. “Thank you. Best present I’ve ever had.”

Mr Fell squeezed Crowley’s arm. “I think it’s time to send everybody home, you know.”

“Ok, this one’s on me.” And Crowley moved his hand upwards, and clicked his fingers. The guests suddenly felt it was time to be getting coats on and moving along. There were cries of “Oooh, would you look at the time?” “Quite enough sherry for me.” “Splendid do, Mr Fell!” “Happy Christmas, everyone!”

Crowley said, “Nina. Maggie. Do come for lunch on Christmas Day. I’ve worked out the perfect menu for you.”

They looked delighted. “We’d love to. Thank you so much. You’re absolute angels.”

When they’d gone home, slightly unsteadily, Crowley said, “I think I’ve worked out why they’re so hard to miracle. You can’t persuade them of anything. They’re always so damned rational there’s no amount of hand-waving will work.”

“Have you, my dear? Do you think they’re occult, after all? It is indeed very hard to, er, manipulate them, and believe me, I have tried. Not soft in the head at all.”

“I’m sure you have. I said you were just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. No, I know what it is.”

“Do go on.”

“It’s simple. They’re vegans.”

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #christmas #holidays

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woogleindia · 2 years

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Ideas For Party Decorations

Everybody cherishes a party! However, what gives a party more life are the enhancements, nothing says 'party' like the style hung about for the event. The following are 10 extraordinary thoughts for Birthday party fun activities in bangalore, and they're not excessively over the top by the same token.

1. Inflatables. These economical, light articles can be controlled and bought in various varieties and sizes to fit any party subject. Hang or pin inflatables up on the wall utilizing twofold sided tacky tape. Many party thoughts by and large incorporate inflatables since they are not difficult to utilize. In any event, turning and controlling long inflatables can make fun characters to adorn with.

2. Strips are one more method for sprucing up a party. Pleated, tissue paper lace known as 'decorations' function admirably when curved with one more tone at the middle then hung at various corners of the roof. The strips are sufficiently long to try and make a beautifying focus piece.

3. Pinatas, by and large a kid's thing, can likewise brighten up a party. They can be loaded up with sweets, little awards, and gift vouchers then hung over a branch or switch to be busted open for pleasure.

4. Candles can likewise act as a party enrichments. On a more regular basis, candles are utilized for grown-up or develop themed parties. Keeping away from candles around youngsters' gatherings is an effective method for forestalling a potential fire.

5. Subject arranged food. Most Halloween parties comprise of themed food sources like, cemetery beautified cakes, pumpkin glazed cupcakes, jello 'mind' cups, and so on. Having themed arranged food can likewise help your enhancement endeavors.

6. Outfits are held for Halloween, yet they can likewise be used to upgrade the subject of the party whenever of the year. A 70's party might comprise of gatherings of companions dressing in that style time. Indeed, even a kid's party can carry out ensembles as an idea for the party. This can be alluring particularly assuming there will be prizes passed out to the best ensembles.

7. Plastic explode things are one more method for finishing for a party. Some luau parties have exploded palm trees and tiki lights to give the general impact of being in the jungles. This can be joined by fruity blended drinks, Hawaiian style food and music.

8. Music, while not a real unmistakable style, assuredly will brighten up any party. In light of what your topic is, even kids' gatherings, subject situated music can upgrade the vibe of the party. Incorporating a dance or dance challenge with the music will draw in additional members.

9. Lighting. Similar as candles to a more conventional get-together, strobe lighting, spot lighting or even lights can be utilized as enlightened stylistic theme for your social occasion. Indeed, even strong or blazing Christmas lights can be utilized for embellishment around the headliner of your party.

10. Flatware is a party stylistic layout certain individuals really do over look. While it is fine to utilize conventional table wear, ornamental plates, napkins and flatware can improve total the vibe of your party. Having fine china present for a conventional party functions admirably; in any case, for a more energetic party or youngster's party, beautiful plates and napkins work better.

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Small balloon decoration

Magic show for kids birthday party

Cocomelon birthday decorations

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#Cocomelon birthday decorations #Corporate events Bangalore

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oldsalt1169 · 4 years

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I have watched the locals 'slather' their abodes with tinsel, inflatable Santa's, LED lights, and TONS of other assorted (made in China) Bull-S@*t, and I just shake my head... Absolutely NONE of them have spent a single Christmas away from home just praying to live to see the next day (in some places where that likelihood is slim)... I sit at my desk in "The Bunker" and look at my Christmas decorations and remember the GREAT Marines and Sailors (both past and present) and Families that I have had the honor to know... My thoughts, hopes and prayers for this (and what I may have left) Christmas Season(s) are of ALL of you! Merry Christmas and Semper Fidelis!

#usmc #usmc veteran #usmclife #usmc military

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mantianxue · 3 years

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Differences between Chinese and foreign Christmas arrangements

As Christmas gets closer and closer. At this time, we are all looking forward to something special this year, or the mood or the arrangement of the led christmas tree, etc. People's anticipation for Christmas contains sincere emotions, which stems from the inseparable meaning of Christmas for them.

As a traditional festival in western countries such as the United States, Britain, France and other countries, Christmas has long been integrated into the living habits of the people. Many people are now doing charity work, and being willing to help the underprivileged is what Christmas is supposed to do. We are also living Christmas, the same wonderful, the same go to church to pray and bless. But in terms of Christmas decoration, there are not small differences between China and foreign countries, which is an indisputable fact.

Christmas abroad is to express the blessing of Jesus Christ. Generally, there are a few days off before and after December 25th every year. People return home from busy work in the city to have a happy dinner together. The led christmas tree manufacturer said that in the festive arrangement of the family living room, Santa Claus is generally the main activity prop, and bright and bright Santa Claus should be placed in the corridor at the entrance. Look at the bright big eyes and snow-white beard. The amiable face, as if to say hello to you, looking forward to the health of the family. Behind him is a large or small package, which is full of beautiful gifts from all over the world, ready to be distributed to the children at home. On both sides of the living room, you will feel especially warm, with soft lighting reflecting the whole atmosphere, hanging above the center of the living room, and then there are exquisite decals or Christmas tree shapes or Little Red Riding Hood or Pvt. neatly decorated on the windows. There is also the Christmas tree full of green vitality, which is already covered with various color balls and sticker parts, and there seems to be something like Christmas stockings hidden behind it. The living room looks extraordinarily warm against the background of the hot burning fireplace. It is said that Santa Claus came to the world from above the fireplace at night. The children jumped and jumped with joy, looking forward to getting this year's Christmas cards and gifts from the adults.

The above-mentioned foreign scenes are often arranged by a large family to spend Christmas together in a more spacious house. Chinese people do not have more traditional memories of Christmas celebration arrangements. Generally, young people organize and participate in it, and the randomness is more obvious. For example, when you spend Christmas in college, you can finally find a small auditorium that can be used as an activity base. Our arrangement is like a New Year's Day party. The first is the stage arrangement. There should be expressions such as Christmas wishes in the center of the stage, with colorful balloons and flashing stickers. When the situation is better, there will be green plants as a foil. The space for the host of the event should be reserved at the front of the stage, and objects such as carpets should be used as far as possible to spread on the event venue. Then, you need to be innovative in the seats, and write auspicious blessings based on the layout characteristics of the Spring Festival, and place a small mascot or the like at each seat. There should be an event sign outside the auditorium, and an inflatable Christmas tree or Santa would be perfect.

In comparison, different cultures at home and abroad have different requirements for Christmas decoration, which stems from cultural differences and different senses of identity. But "foreign moons are not necessarily rounder than China's", every nation has its inner beauty that he always pursues, and it seems that Christmas will also follow the customs of the countryside.

Mantianxue is a professional large frame tree and wrought iron tree manufacturer integrating R&D, production and sales. It is mainly a professional manufacturer of large Christmas trees, PVC Christmas tree, and fiber-optic Christmas trees. The factory has strong human resources and technology research and development capabilities, advanced equipment and a sound management system. The products are of high quality and have been affirmed by customers in Europe, America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In the Christmas wholesale markets in various regions of the country, various key municipal projects and the decoration of high-end hotels have a large market area. We always adhere to the business philosophy of "scientific and technological innovation, quality first, customer first, integrity management, scientific management" to provide you with satisfactory products and services! Sincerely welcome new and old customers at home and abroad to visit and guide, negotiate business and create a better future!

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theotherjourney7 · 3 years

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“Haven't been able to post yet, it's been a difficult weekend to process. I worked for David Amess in Parliament, and ahead of the tributes in the House tomorrow I wanted to post my own...

Seeing every photo being shared, he's always smiling, usually with a dog in tow, beautifully sums up the man. He taught me lots about politics, but the most important thing he taught me was to start with kindness and the only thing that matters is how many people you help everything else in politics is just ego. Everyone’s talked of his kindness this weekend, I can’t add much, the cross-party tributes speak for themselves. Walking round Parliament with him was an exhausting affair, constantly stopping to say hello, he knew everyone every MP and Lord, every Commons clerk, the kitchen staff, the door keepers. He'd been there so long he was able to point out people in Portcullis House and say ‘I knew his dad back in the 80s’…

For constituents, he had time for everyone. No problem was too big or small. He was there to listen and help. He knew so many personally by name. He kept a list of all the constituents who’d thanked him for his help to send a handwritten Christmas card every year…

When making speeches in Westminster, he always made sure to pay tribute to whoever had brought the issue to his attention. Name-checking the constituent or campaigner personally in Parliament...

I also had the perpetual task when writing speeches for Sir David to make sure that every speech, no matter what the topic, issue or campaign, could end with the immortal words '...And that's why Southend should become a city!'

So much has been made of his love of animals and campaigns for animal rights. It's the reason I went to work for him. He was about 20 years ahead of the crowd on opposing fox-hunting, and had done so much to improve legislation for all animals in this country...

With half a dozen budgies and fish, his Westminster office was constant chorus. Despite being reminded by officials for decades that animals were not allowed in Parliament, they remained. One day we came into the office to find Maggie the budgie had perished he put her in a box and took her home on the train to Essex to be buried in his garden. I'll never forgot the day spent on the phone to the Qatari Ambassador to negotiate whether David could bring back a rescue turtle from the country in his hand luggage...

Most of all, he had the most infectious sense of fun. There was so much laughter in his office. Decorations were serious business. We had to climb outside to put up an inflatable Santa over the balcony every year, one year it broke free and flew across Parliament Square...

At Halloween, an animatic monster outside his office door loudly greeted anyone who passed the corridor. Cabinet Ministers were frequently startled as the zombie came to life and screamed ‘mwahahaha’ at them...

He had a school-boyish charm and loved a practical joke. On my first day, a bit overwhelmed, I came to my desk to find David had left an antique chamber pot as a welcoming present, chuckling to himself as he tried to convince me the all ladies toilets were out of order...

For Christmas, he bought and wrapped presents for my two cats. He got them Christmas stockings filled with weapons-grade catnip imported from China. They love them and are still playing with them two years later. Here's Marcus enjoying his just today, such a sweet legacy

I’ve spent most of my short journalistic and campaigning career writing about the very worst MPs, those who use their position to hurt and abuse under the guise of public service. It has been a joy to finally be able to write about one of the very best. RIP Sir David Amess”-Becky Paton

#life #real life #uk news #uk #sir david amess #member of parliament #house of commons #may he rest in peace

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aliworldtrade · 3 years

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Guangzhou Asia Inflatables Limited

86-20-34704480 86 130 5446 8032

16-601, Lane 2, Shajiao Middle Road, Xiajiao Village, Luopu St., Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

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pixiealtaira · 6 years

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Dragged Kicking and Screaming ( 8/ 22)

Title: Dragged Kicking and Screaming

Or How Burt Hummel Mashed the Hummels and Hudsons Into One Functioning Family.

Characters(s): Kurt, Burt, Carole, Finn, with short appearances by the New Directions guys and various ops who mostly take up space. Rating: PG13 Summary: Somehow the Hummel household and the Hudson household had to come together…

Chapter One Chapter Two

Chapter three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter 6

Chapter seven

Burt left them inside and went to watch as Kurt had the whole lot of the boys in the yard focused and organized. Kurt had replaced all the power strips with the ones that were made for outdoor use and were also timers and had sets of boys wrapping each bush and tree with lights from the untangled bunches, another two groups were resetting up inflatables…in smaller groupings which he suspected Kurt had had a hand in putting together. The final group of boys was handing Kurt up lights as he quickly and efficiently set the clips and then hung the lights…tool belt sitting on his hips. He and Mike were leading the whole crowd in Christmas songs and most were singing without much fuss. Before long Sam and Puck came out, carrying Artie down the porch stairs, carting out the last few strands of lights they’d managed to get working and untangled.

They joined in the singing and Kurt took a moment between songs to set them to the task of lining the walk with Kurt’s little lantern lights.

The lights were up within an hour and half, even those around the door and windows. The inflatables were all filled and every tree and bush was lit. Kurt had headed to the garage and pulled out the two small trees that flanked the door on the porch and he was even kind enough to let Mike flip the switch to light the whole house up. Even though it wasn’t dark, you could see it.

“Cookies and hot chocolate will be served in the house. Thank you all for your help.” Kurt said loudly, smiling. “Why don’t you go find a movie to watch or play video games while I get it all together?”

The crowd of boys whooped and hollered as they rushed to the house.

Kurt stood for a few moments smiling at his work.

“I find most the inflatables questionable,” Kurt finally said. “However, I really like the way the guys did the bushes and trees. It doesn’t look too bad all mixed together since we have white or red and green and we kept the house just white and spaced the red and green evenly throughout the multicolored mixtures about the yard. It would be overwhelming with more colors of lights, but this works. Amazing what happens when Men are in charge.”

Burt snorted as Kurt flounced off.

“He might have a point.” Mike said.

Puck and Artie started to laugh. By the time they all were back in the house, Kurt had water warmed enough to start serving hot chocolate and had produced several tins of cookies which he was passing around with strict rules to the number allowed each pass, which all the boys were following. Burt doubted the fear Kurt had installed in the guys would last past the day, but for now they were all behaving. Finn was sitting in the corner of the living room pouting…there was no other word for it. They settled for a movie…Jingle All The Way…and Kurt ran Christmas Trivia for extra cookies until all the cookies were gone. Football Nelson tied with Hockey Nelson for the most extra cookies, leading Puck to complain for a good ten minutes before Kurt promised to deliver some to glee club on Tuesday. When the movie was over, the boys switched to video games. Burt asked Puck when the Hudson Lights Parties usually ended (well, he asked Finn first, but Finn informed him that Finn wasn’t talking to him because he let Kurt be mean and Carole had already holed up their room), and ended up ordering Pizzas to feed everyone for dinner. After another round of video games, Burt sent everyone home. It was well past seven in the evening by then and Burt was tired and annoyed and had a headache. Those boys, even when being calm and nice to each other, were loud.

Carole was in their room…pouting. She went up there after Burt tried to speak to her while Kurt passed out cookies. She took a six pack of wine coolers, a bottle of rum, and a carton of ice cream. She was upset Kurt had ruined the Hudson Lights Party and insisted Burt wasn’t being fair about anything. Burt tried for several minutes to get an understanding on how Kurt ruined it and what he wasn’t being fair about, but received nothing coherent for an answer before giving up on that topic. Then Burt had asked if she and Finn wanted to shop for the families the shop helped Sunday afternoon or Monday evening and she said THEY wouldn’t be doing such a silly thing…if the Hummels wanted to do that then they could but she didn’t see why the Hudsons should join in, it wasn’t something the Hudsons did, after all.

“I thought we were combining traditions?” Burt said after her rant.

“We are,” Carole said. “We do things the Hudson way and you join us in doing so. See combined. By the way, I invited all the girls from work over on Thursday night for the Hudson Christmas Girls Night Out Party. Tell Kurt that I promised them makeovers and that he needs be ready to give make overs to about ten to fifteen ladies. The tree needs to be up and decorated by then. I told the girls we were doing pink and purple Victorian theme this year, tell Kurt to get it right before Tuesday-ish.”

“Purple and Pink? We don’t have pink and purple. And did you ask Kurt if he was available?” Burt asked.

“Pink and purple Victorian, Burt. Roses and lace and ribbons and velvet and lots of frills. You don’t need to own it already; Kurt can go buy it tomorrow. I’ve always wanted a pink and purple Victorian tree. I’d like the little china dolls in pink or purple dresses and the little boots. They need to be leather and white. I’m sure Kurt can find them somewhere…even if he has to go to Dayton or Columbus or whatever. Since he is supposedly working next week he can use his paycheck as reimbursement to the family account for the decorations. That way the household account doesn’t have to cover them and we’ll be sure to have plenty for Finn’s gifts. And No, I didn’t ASK Kurt. Why would I? He is home so he should be fine to do it. We want the good stuff too. Quality polishes and oils and whatever else he uses.”

“I think you should ask him if he can do it.”

“He is a kid. We can just tell him to do it.”

“I’ll have him get you a list of the items he’ll need by Tuesday so you can pick them up.” Burt said. “If he agrees.”

“I’m not buying the stuff; he can buy it or it can come from the household account and you can make him pick it up. I won’t have time between now and Thursday. I work on most those days and the days free I have to get my hair done and go clothing shopping for the party. I don’t have anything that is right for a girls’ night out party. This needs to happen, Burt. I promised the ladies. Also, we are providing dinner but I haven’t decided on what yet, it needs to be elegant and really nice and we need drinks and since Kurt did so well at Thanksgiving I figured he could make those up. We’ll need more alcohol, we used most of what we got at Thanksgiving time then and what was left is nearly out. Oh, and we need to buy like fifteen or twenty gifts for bingo wins, which is what we will be playing after dinner. Maybe we should aim for thirty gifts. That way we can play longer. And Kurt will need to set up the bingo calling station by where he’ll be mixing drinks, so he can do both, if you don’t run the bingo game.”

Burt took note of the half empty Gin bottle on the counter as Carole said she’d told the ladies she’d cover the gifts this year instead of having each lady bring one, so they had to work those in too, and those were not the same as bingo gifts. He started to rub his head to try to ease the headache that was forming, only somewhat listening as she insisted that since they had money from the jars at the shop, they could just use some of that to buy the Girls’ Night gifts and get good things this time around, and Carole could save her money for Finn’s Christmas gifts. Oh…and she gave Finn the night off, so they shouldn’t even think of pulling him in to call the bingo game. And she had promised the ladies that they could have individual goodie bags filled with neat stuff so Burt was surely going to offer up free auto care and she was sure he could convince Kurt to go out and buy them really nice beauty items, she’d get him complexion lists.

Burt looked out to the living room where Kurt was managing the cookie distribution and running trivia. Kurt’s shoulders were slumped and he had dark circles under his eyes. Burt realized Kurt hadn’t eaten lunch; Kurt hadn’t been given a long enough break from hosting Finn’s party…Carole’s party…to find himself anything after he came downstairs. It was then that Burt then said No. He was not offering up free anything. He might have had Carole asked, but since she did not he was not going to do so. Also, she could go buy stuff for goodies bags, Kurt was not. Carole stomped up the stairs after grabbing the ice cream and the box of wine coolers and the rum.

Burt settled in to help Kurt manage and monitor the horde for the rest of the afternoon. It took him and Kurt and Puck and Mike to get the guys to leave when he said things were done. Apparently sometimes the guys just stayed until they had to go home due to school…gaming and eating. Puck and Mike waved as they left, after reminding Kurt to bring cookies to Glee.

Burt was trying to decide when he became the dad to three teens and why he hadn’t noticed Carole’s tendency to pout when things didn’t go her or Finn’s way. He was well aware he ought not to have voiced the three teen opinion as he tried to wrestle control of the TV from Finn after he sent all the boys home, he just hadn’t expected Kurt to hear it. Kurt did hear it and did voice his opinion. (Kurt’s comment of having only been dating her for a year and that she had always put on her best face when he was focused on her hadn’t been helpful. Neither had Kurt’s comment that if Burt would have listened to him better about what things were like when he was in the hospital and when he was first at home but not very with it yet, maybe he would have been more prepared for it all. That just made Burt more upset actually. He had been certain Kurt had been the one exaggerating or telling the fib about that time, except…after the last few weeks he wasn’t so certain Kurt was the one exaggerating anymore. And that irked him. If Kurt hadn’t been cleaning up from the day long infiltration of teen boys, Burt would have sent him to his room. Except Burt was rather reluctant to interrupt Kurt’s cleaning, especially since it hadn’t been ‘Kurt’s’ party and so he shouldn’t have had to be cleaning and Kurt hadn’t reminded him of that yet. But Kurt was cleaning so Burt wouldn’t have to. He knew Kurt was worried about his health and worried even more since he wasn’t there to make sure his diet was being overseen properly and he had the help in the shop he needed and he was doing his exercises (all of which wasn’t being done as well as Burt should have but Carole and Finn needed his attention so maintaining the things he was supposed to be doing was hard.) Finn was sassing at Kurt…again… while he sat on the remote so Burt couldn’t get to it and Kurt was sassing at everyone while he cleaned. The din had lessened but it was still too much.

Frankly, Burt had had enough of it all.

#glee fanfic #burt hummel #Kurt Hummel #hummel household

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oldsalt1169 · 5 years

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I have watched the locals 'slather' their abodes with tinsel, inflatable Santa's, LED lights, and TONS of other assorted (made in China) Bull-S@*t, and I just shake my head... Absolutely NONE of them have spent a single Christmas away from home just praying to live to see the next day (in some places where that likelihood is slim)... I sit at my desk in "The Bunker" and look at my only Christmas decoration and remember the GREAT Marines and Sailors (both past and present) and Families that I have had the honor to know... My thoughts, hopes and prayers for this (and what I may have left) Christmas Season(s) are of ALL of you! Merry Christmas and Semper Fidelis!

#usmc #usmcveteran #usmclife #usmc military

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thegreenwolf · 7 years

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Note: This article was first posted over at my now-defunct Patheos blog. Due to contractual disagreements, which included them refusing to remove my posts from their site after repeated requests, I am moving some of my writing over here. Please link to this version of the article rather than the Patheos one. Thank you!

Ah, mid-August, how I love thee. It’s the height of summer here in the U.S., with barbecues and campouts and calling the air conditioning repair company because the HVAC is down again. My garden is overflowing with fresh produce and I have no idea how we’re going to eat all this kale, but I’m going to make it work. And all the kiddies are trying to squeeze the last remnants of summer vacation out before having to go back to school. Even the stores are getting in on the act, with shelves and displays full of backpacks and pencils and all that other stuff on the school supply list that just arrived in the mail.

Of course, the back to school displays have been up since the fifth of July. But soon enough (probably just after Labor Day) it’ll be time shopping for Halloween, or so the chain stores say. (Sure, it’s a little early to be talking about this, but I have to beat the stores to the punch!) You can expect endless lines of green-faced witches, styrofoam tombstones, little plastic cauldrons, and strings of Christmas-style lights with translucent smiling skulls and ghosts. Right on cue, the feeds on my social media profiles–Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter–will be full of squealing pagans all excited about “Look at all this Halloween stuff I got from Michael’s for just twenty bucks! They had a sale!” and “I got this cute gargoyle statue with red LED eyes at Wal-mart!” (In fact, I’ve already seen a few posts–apparently Michael’s already has their Halloween stuff out. Yikes.)

Most of the time I just hold my tongue and cringe. The very same pagans who have been reblogging and sharing calls to action about fracking in Canada and human rights abuses in Gaza are proudly displaying cheap, chintzy tchotchkes that are the products of environmental degradation and slave labor. It’s a peculiar sort of cognitive dissonance driven by materialism and rampant consumerism without reflection. It would be one thing if there were no alternative options, or if it were over something necessary to life like access to food or water, or even something educational like books. No, these cheap, mass-produced items (only slightly different from the ones offered last year) are purely luxuries, and not even luxuries in the traditional sense of actually being worth something.

And they come out of a well of toxicity. Those cute plastic window decals are derived from the petroleum industry, which severely damages the environment throughout the entire process of harvesting, processing, and using oil. Fossil fuels are also implicated in a whole host of human rights abuses. That cheap metal candle holder with the flying witch cut out? It was made from metals that were probably unsustainably mined, producing countless toxins and destroying nearby waterways and habitats.

These materials are then turned into purely decorative items, usually by poorly paid and abused slave labor in China and elsewhere. In 2012, an Oregon woman bought a set of Halloween decorations from K-Mart. Inside it was a letter written by one of the workers, detailing the horrible conditions at the factory. It is almost certain that this year’s shiny new decorations from Michael’s and the like are made by similarly abused workers.

And what’s it take to get all these trinkets from China to the United States? Generally they’re sent by giant freight ships across the Pacific Ocean, ships which create a massive amount of pollution and devastate wildlife and marine plants; the noise from these ships also interferes with whales’ ability to communicate with each other, particularly as the sound is often on the same frequency that the whales use.

How else can these big box chain stores sell you their tacky items at low, low prices except through abuses to the environment and our fellow human beings? When you get to pay $5.99 for a packet of paper plates with smiling black cats on them, or get a buy one get one free pair of resin skeleton candle holders, you’re not paying the full price for these things. Other living beings are your coupons, and future generations of humans and other living beings will be paying the price for your purchase for decades, if not centuries, to come.

The sad thing is, there are plenty of alternatives to the crap you’ll find on the big box shelves, and yet millions of people convince themselves they just have to have these useless, toxic items, to include people who claim they venerate nature and believe all people should be treated equally and humanely. It would be one thing if we were talking about something necessary to human existence, like food or water access, or if these were carefully hand-crafted pieces bought directly from the artist. But we’re compromising the environment and each other over things nobody actually needs, and which can be easily replaced by better options.

Want to break the cycle of damaging consumerism? Make your own decorations and costumes using recycled and reclaimed materials, and invite your friends and family to get in on it. Here’s one set of tutorials, and here’s another, and some more over here, and those are just three of the first links that popped up when I Googled “how to make Halloween decorations with recycled materials”. If you want to get really artsy about it, try sculpting your own scary skeletons and witches out of recycled paper mache instead of buying the resin ones from the chain stores.

If you don’t feel you’re artistic enough, consider going through Etsy* or other avenues to patronize artists who make holiday wares. You can ask them about where their materials come from, request custom work, and you’ll be giving money to an individual person, not a nameless corporation. Chances are whatever they make will be better constructed than the cheaply made offerings at the stores, and so will last much longer. It may be more of a financial investment in the beginning, but it pays off in the long run.

Remember, too, that Halloween (Samhain) was originally a harvest festival, and many pagans still celebrate it as such today. This means that edibles like squash, sugar pumpkins and apples all make great decorations. You may also be able to find corn stalks from local farmers, and fall leaves are always abundant wherever deciduous trees grow. Once Halloween is over, you can eat the vegetables and fruit, and compost the rest.

If you absolutely must decorate your home in poor-quality, mass-produced Halloween kitsch, consider checking out Goodwill and other thrift stores in your area. Plenty of people offload their old holiday decorations when they move or clean house, and every year I see aisles full of perfectly serviceable secondhand Halloween items available for cheap. A lot of it will end up thrown out because there’s just too much to go around, and too many people insist on heading to Target to buy brand new costumes and decor (most of which will probably end up tossed, or donated and then tossed, in a few years). If for whatever reason you’d be horrified if your friends knew you went thrift shopping *gasp*, you don’t have to tell them the truth of where that inflatable vampire came from. Just tell them you bought it at the Halloween Superstore a few years ago.

Halloween can still be full of fun decorations and playful costumes, and those of you so inclined can still make your home look like October year-round. But with a little care and consideration, we can make this year’s Halloween better for the entire planet, and take some power away from the truly scary monsters that we face in our world today.

* Please be aware that Etsy now allows mass-produced items. You may have to be a little careful in shopping there. Generally speaking, if it’s cheap, it’s probably mass produced.

Did you enjoy this read? Consider supporting this self-employed author and artist by buying my books, or checking out my Etsy shop, or purchasing the Tarot of Bones! You can also get exclusive content, art in the mail, and more by being my Patron on Patreon!

#pagan #witch #Halloween #environment #October #mine

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aliworldtrade · 3 years

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Dongguan Walen Toys Manufacturer

0086-769-82202112 0086-18617254899

Floor 2, No. 188, Dongmen 1st Street, Zhangwu Village, Qiaoli, Changping Town, Dongguan, Gungdong, China

Dongguan Walen Toys Manufacturer is a professional manufacturer of PVC inflatable products with high quality, competitive prices and various designs. Our products mainly include inflatable toys, furniture, inflatable boats, air beds, air mattresses and surfboards, Christmas decorations, inflatable Santa Claus, trees and snowmen, advertising inflatable products, beach balls, PVC raincoats, PVC bags, key chains, air beds and other related products, such as HDPE, EVA and TPU products. Those products can provide great fun for people for both indoor and outdoor use. Our company covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters and has 300 employees and over 100 sets of imported high frequency machines. 75% of our products are exported to Europe, the USA and Japan. We always focus on strengthening our management system, controlling product quality and providing customers with the best products. Our products always meet strict international standards, such as EN-71 and ASTM. Our reliable production capability and timely delivery ensure continued popularity among customers.We also offer unique designs according to the requirements of customers if you are interested in any of our products. Please feel free to contact us for further information.

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pixiealtaira · 6 years

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To Find Your Peace

Authors Note: This is number one of the not posted Hummel Holidays fics....this had been stuck for well over a year and 9 months or so because I couldn’t find the right mood to describe tacky Christmas decorations. Obviously, I should have just waited until July, when I find most Christmas decorations tacky...due to the fact I shouldn’t have to see them in stores yet...(here’s looking at you Hobby Lobby!)

Anyway, on to the story

To Find Your Peace

rated:PG

Pairing: None.

Prompt 5: Decorations

Kurt should have known something was up the day after Thanksgiving...but he had believed his dad when he’d said that they were going to blend family traditions for holidays just like they’d blended families and no single family was going to be given precedence. They all insisted…well his dad and Carole…that the first Thanksgiving wasn’t going to count at all because it was all about introducing families to each other for a longer period of time than the wedding and just making sure no one killed anyone else. Therefore no one’s traditions were being used.

However…he should have realized something was up when he asked his dad what time to be home from shopping so they could put up the outdoor lights and his dad had answered he didn’t need to worry about it, especially since his dad then handed over five hundred bucks and hadn’t even told Kurt to get something nice for the Mildreds and whoever else was usually on his dad’s Christmas shopping list from the mall and then to use whatever extra Kurt ended up with on something fun, like he usually did if he gave Kurt money for Black Friday shopping. (Kurt did his dad’s shopping anyway; he even bought a few base gifts for Carole and Finn. It hadn’t been worth it…although his dad approved of the gifts he’d picked, he complained the whole time that now he had to find somewhere to hide them all until Christmas, because apparently Finn was a snooper, go figure. Kurt ended up needing to wrap everything up and take everything with him to school. And since he had the stuff at school he had to spend the money to send off the gifts to everyone on his dad’s list who was out of town and had to finish up shopping for the guys his dad worked for since his dad couldn’t remember what Kurt had already bought and his dad didn’t send extra money for any of that.)

His second clue that something was amiss should have been that he distinctly remembered Puck talking about the Hudson’s house being all light up by Thanksgiving time every year. So, if they were combining traditions, shouldn’t putting up lights outside the day after thanksgiving have been within the realms of combining tradition?

But he didn’t notice anything was off and he trusted his dad, and so his requests to hang lights were put off for the rest of the weekend and then it was Monday and he was back off to Dalton and he was well aware he wasn’t getting home until school let out for break unless he was extremely lucky…which he hadn’t been. He may not have been at Dalton for long, but he still had to take finals with the rest of the bunch. Kurt figured he’d averaged about three hours of sleep a night from the time he got back from Thanksgiving to the last of day finals…the 16th… which was the last day of regular classes, although he wasn’t allowed to go home until the 22nd, unless his parent came and checked him out…which his parent hadn’t. His parent hadn’t even shown up for the Dalton Parent’s day on the 17th, let alone checked him out early. That was embarrassing. He still has no idea if anyone bought his emergency at the shop story.

Kurt had had a miserable December. No one helped brighten it at all. (Blaine might have brightened it briefly with the song they sang together; however he promptly went on to dis Kurt’s festive accessories and tell him to stop singing Christmas carols in the halls, so no…) There was no advent of daily activities. And although his dad did make it to the Nutcracker to see it with him, like he’d promised right after his heart attack, he missed half of it because a ball game he was watching with Finn went into overtime. It wasn’t even a game that involved either of the two’s favorite teams. And Burt left immediately afterwards because Carole wanted Burt to go out to eat with her and had made reservations for them and Burt didn’t want her upset if he didn’t make it. Kurt was given house demerit points for his string of lights and the electric candle in his window and the holly and ivy garland he’d hung in his room (and for the sprig of Holly he attached to his uniform and the hot chocolate maker he had in his room.) The only one who appreciated the card he’d given them was Jeff, at least as far as he could tell. He even got in trouble for baking, because he was distracting too many boys from their studying. And he found out the last day of class that he probably couldn’t board the next semester unless they could fork over at least another three thousand bucks on top of tuition….which they’d only managed to pay for the quarter, not the full semester…by the end of December (and that wasn’t even the full boarding amount, since they hadn’t been informed they needed to fill out paperwork to keep Kurt’s emergency student status past the end of the semester). (Apparently the Headmaster had emailed his father about it early in December, but his dad hadn’t responded at all.) Kurt had packed everything in his dorm room that he wasn’t using and moved it to his SUV that night. There was no way they could come up with that much on top of tuition in less than two weeks, not In December. Then he got reprimanded for watching unapproved videos over the weekend after most the other boys had left, except those staying the whole vacation period. The last few days were spent working off his demerit points by cleaning classrooms for teachers who were as unhappy to still be at the school as he was. He was looking forward to going home and putting up the Christmas tree and relaxing by a fire in the fireplace while he sipped hot chocolate. He was going to play Christmas Music and sing to it as loud as he wanted and watch Christmas Movies, maybe even all night long! He was finally freed to head home at what would have been then end of the school day of the 22nd. Kurt finished packing the SUV with the rest of his stuff and left Dalton. It was past 3pm when he finally got out of there.

It snowed the whole drive home -blizzard conditions- so the two hour drive took nearly twice as long. He’d nearly been run off the road three times and each time he later saw the idiot drivers in the ditch. He’d been stuck as emergency vehicles struggled to get through for twenty minutes behind a diesel truck which wasn’t burning its fuel properly. His head hurt and he was cold and tense. By the time Kurt pulled onto the street the house was on all he wanted was to go home and hopefully be able to get things together for Christmas with some semblance of sanity surviving to maybe even enjoy something about the season. He figured the outside lights would be up, but he looked forward to decorating inside. Surely his dad had left the garlands for him to do and the tree for him to help with. He dreamed all the way home of putting the garland up the banisters on the stair cases, and over the mantle of the fireplace. He thought about what cute things they could do with a wreath for the front door, because surely Carole and Finn would enjoy one and so his dad would finally allow one. Maybe his dad would even agree to a garland along the tops of the china cabinets and the bookshelves this year. Kurt had been trying for years (since the year after his mom died) to get his dad to agree to more than just the tree and a garland on the fire place mantle, finally winning the banisters when he was 14. His dad always said that more than that was just not necessary, a waste of money, and too much in a tasteless manner, not a good one. Kurt had found some plaid ribbon though, and some woodland critters which would be sedate and not too loud, so maybe that could convince his dad. He thought about what ornaments needed to be on the tree, and which could be left off so Finn and Carole could have space for theirs. He wondered what stories he’d learn as they put up the tree and talked about what the ornaments meant or when they were bought or made.

He was debating inside his head whether or not to include the Elvis Bear on the tree when he realized he’d driven past his house…because that monstrosity of tasteless inflatables and obnoxious outdoor illumination could not possibly be his house. His dad wouldn’t even allow Kurt to string lights around the small pine in the front yard or exchange the regular walkway light for candy canes or Christmas shaped lights. The inflatables up in their yard weren’t even tasteful inflatables. There was Sponge Bob and Simpsons and Mario and Mr.Potato Head inflatables…and was that Santa in an outhouse with half his rear end showing? There was a Santa in a hot tub…and a Santa waving from a camper…and some sort of superhero group. On the top of the house were wooden Reindeer cutouts, lit up and a fake chimney with Santa’s butt showing…again…lit up so no one could miss it. The house was dripping with lights, in no orderly fashion what so ever…lights of multi colored lights went into white blinking lights or icicle lights then back to colored, no pattern or reason to them. The colored lights didn’t match each other and even the white lights didn’t match each other. There were even pink and turquoise lights and purple lights. There were lit stars and snowflakes, which Kurt would have liked had they been hanging from the eves like they were meant to be and not attached to the side of the house, literally…to the siding...at least a foot under the window sills. Everything was covered in lights, but not well…light nets weren’t put on correctly and left huge sections blank, only half of things were strung with lights, or if the full item was cover, it wasn’t covered with anything that matched. There were dozens of animatronic lit critters…bears, deer, reindeer, penguins…that didn’t match...as some were again colored and some were white (different whites as well), and dozens of those spiral trees his father had forbidden Kurt from having (Kurt had wanted two… a tall one and a shorter one.)…several of which actually clashed with each other even though they sat right next to each other. There were large plastic candy canes and plastic choir boys and plastic carolers and plastic Santas and plastics elves and plastic snowmen and plastic candles and Kurt thought he might even see plastic aliens in the yard, and possibly a plastic camel. They were scattered throughout the yard like someone had shaken a dice cup and let loose. The walkways to the house were lined with Red and Green and blue and white and orange and black rope lights, in no manner that made any sense. Kurt pulled into the drive way and stared.

When he opened the car door, he was blasted with four different Christmas songs being piped out from somewhere in the mess. The cacophony was nearly painful. Kurt wasn’t even allowed to play Christmas Music loud enough to be heard throughout the house, let alone outside it.

Kurt sat in his SUV and stared. The front porch not only had a wreath on the front door, one of those huge ones made of garishly colored mesh…it was bright pink and lime green and teal for goodness sake and the only thing that made it look Christmas like was that it was covered in glass balls of the same garish colors…but it had wreathes on both the pillars of the porch and they didn’t match. One was a huge evergreen wreath that would have been lovely without the batman themed ribbon and decorations and the other was made of the type of bows you buy in bulk to put on presents, with the sticky square backs, in the worst color assortment ever.

Strands of gold, silver, green and red tinsel garlands hung on each side of the door…just hung down, the slight breeze was making them sway to and fro. Across the top of the door was a baby blue fake pine garland trimmed with pink lights. The blue of the garland clashed with the teal of the wreath, let alone everything hanging to the sides of the door. The porch was littered with wood cutouts that were poorly painted. One of the elves looked positively demonic and seemed to have pointed buck teeth painted on it.

Even the normal tasteful sconces that generally served as the covers to the porch lights had been replaced by hideous Santa faces from which the glow of the porch lights made Santa look like his eyes were glowing.

Kurt took a deep breath; grabbed two suitcases filled with his stuff from Dalton in them, and braved the front door. The moment he stepped on the porch a new set of Christmas Music blasted through speakers. It didn’t mesh with any of the other blaring songs at all. He scrunched up his face and plotted the closest way to the nearest pain meds to ease his head ache and then the fastest way to his bedroom. Then he opened the door.

It looked like a five year old had hung streamers for a birthday party, except with tacky tinsel garlands and crepe paper in every color sold. There was no pattern to the mess, just tinsel garland and crepe paper tacked into the ceiling, hanging down to far, criss-crossing willy nilly and clashing often. The entry way walls were plastered in holiday pictures and cutouts and even window clings that had been taped to the wall with packing tape. There were tacky singing fish wearing Santa and Elf hats that sang as you walked in the door. Somewhere else in the other room other singing things started up, ones that were noise activated. Christmas music blasted through the house, loud and annoying.

There was nowhere to hang his coat or put his shoes because the coat rack and shoe cubbies were filled with horrid Christmas sweaters hung where they could be seen and bins of pine cones and wooden blocks painted like gifts…poorly painted….and the most horrid mixed colors of…plastic balls…and sticks? Ribbon bows were tied to everything they could be tied to, often with jingle bells hanging from them…but there wasn’t any cohesive color scheme. There were purple and pink and red and green and lilac and neon yellow and lime green and orange and brown and black and a red that was either brick or blood bows scattered throughout the entryway and hall. The floor itself was covered in Christmas themed welcome mats….dozens laid out on the floor in a odd type of runner. The entry ways to the living room and dining room were framed by stringy tinsel like the front door, which seemed to reach out to him as he walked by due to the mass amount of static generated by the sheer amount of tinsel.

He walked by the arched opening to the dining room first and looked in. And immediately wished he hadn’t. There were four Christmas trees on the dining room table. They weren’t small, really, each was about three feet to three and a half feet tall. They were mashed together due to the fact the dining room table lacked the space for them all. One was bright pink and one was lime green, the other two were pine colored, and at least one was real judging by the amount of pine needles on the table. The pink tree was covered with cupcakes and the most hideously scary looking gingerbread ornaments and baby blue beads and ribbons and purple topical scary looking birds with huge feathered tails and flamingos and cocktail glasses and donuts and then Victorian looking lace and cones…that weren’t the same nearly neon pink as the tree and so looked bad on it. The lights were bright red and blinked.

The lime green one wasn’t any better. There were red and lime green balls and ribbons and lots of candy ornaments in various colors and patterns, shoved in with feathery birds in extremely bright pinks and teals and purples and yellows and oranges, neon colored swim suits and goggles and snorkels and swim fins, and loads of very bright fake extremely glittered citrus fruit. The birds didn’t even match the other tree. The tree was topped with peacock feathers….the colors of which matched maybe one freaking feathered bird. The lime green tree’s lights were bright pink and chased through some strangely timed pattern.

The real pine tree was covered in small kitchen ware and bake ware type items, and could have been fine if not also mixed with seashells and sand dollars and beach items and a ribbon that went around it that encouraged all to have a Bloody Merry Christmas and looked like it was splattered with blood. It also had bright red lights, a shade darker and adding to the blood feel.

The final tree was completely stuffed with religious ornaments. He’d been to Aunt Mildred’s during Christmas season. Aunt Mildred was very…evangelical. She did a Jesse tree and Nativity tree. Everything was wrapped in Jesus Loves You paper and Jesus is the Reason for the Season paper. It only lasted a few years, but Kurt was there for them. He thought it more tasteless than not even back then, but now he was thinking his Aunt Mildred did it tastefully. The first problem was that it was just packed so full and nothing matched. The bright crayon colored circles proclaiming Jesus’s love and purpose would have been fine, alone or with the white nativity pieces. They didn’t look good with the neon stars that had different names of Christ or the nativity pieces that looked like they belonged in a circus (which were horrid anyway). The Jesse ornaments on it were just…not tastefully done. Perhaps if they had just been white ceramic they would have been fine, but these were white ceramic that had been poorly gold leafed…which made them tacky to start off with even if the gold leaf had been applied well. To top it all of…there were close to a dozen Christ on a Cross ornaments that had I’m Saved written on them…across Jesus’s chest. The lights on this three were neon colored…pink, green, yellow, blue…and flashed at such a high speed Kurt was worried for people visiting. His house now needed seizure warnings inside as well as out.

Kurt closed his eyes, hoping again that upon opening them his dining room would look normal.

It didn’t.

Having taken in the Christmas Trees on the table, he saw everything else. The table had runners on it under the tree…over a hideous Christmas table cloth. Runners…plural. None matched the ugly elf table cloth…some of which looked demonic…and none matched each other. The chairs were dressed up in those stupid slip covers that only look good done well…and at things like weddings. These weren’t done well and didn’t match at all. The stupid reindeer chair cover had antlers that Kurt assumed were supposed to stick up but which flopped backwards, the snowman looked half melted and like something out of a horror film and the less said about the two Santas, the better. Suffice to say, they clashed with each other and if Kurt never saw another Santa again, he’d be happy. The thought of a Santa looking like either was enough to keep Kurt from even wanting Santa gifts at all….no Santa gift means Santa didn’t come to his house. He couldn’t understand why anyone would buy them…and since they all had tags that were sticking out, someone had.

The walls were plastered with Christmas Prints…that again didn’t match or make sense together. The tacky Tinsel garlands criss-crossed the ceiling in the dining room as well, shedding down onto the floor and all over the table.

Kurt was terrified to look at the rest of the house. And depressed. Utterly depressed. He couldn’t believe he dad had told HIM no all these years and then let THIS happen. Unless maybe the reason his dad hadn’t answered anything was because they’d killed him…or tied him up somewhere.

He turned and walked further down the hall, pausing to look into the living. And concluded his thought that they had actually killed his dad and stuffed the body somewhere wasn’t as unlikely as it seemed.

The tree was in the middle of the room. The TV was blocked. The tree touched the ceiling and was quite wide as well. It was real, Kurt could tell by the mass amount of pine needles on the floor. And it was heavily flocked. The white powder stuff sat on many of the branches in piles. It was flocked so badly Kurt could see flocking on the furniture and when the heater kicked on the air movement made flocking dust float into the air. It was also covered in silver tinsel strands….the individual ones that got EVERYWHERE. And Kurt meant covered…every branch was draped with strands at least five inches in, it looked like it was melting. The air lifted those as well, and made them sway on the tree in a very nauseating manner. The only things on the tree were huge fake poinsettia flowers in every color imaginable and so heavily glittered the glitter they shed could be seen on every surface and the type of feathers that really only worked on Pirate hats, Victorian hats, and as pens at weddings, also dipped in glitter. The lights were all chasers, set on super speed, and the strands did not match…not bulb shape or color.

There were about twenty stockings hung on the mantle, all with Finn’s name on them…except two, labeled MOM and DAD. And they were all tacky…and huge. There were piles of gifts under the tree, most quite large and all, even from afar, clearly labeled FINN. Kurt was strongly reminded of Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley. There were hundreds of animated stuffed things in the room and so many throw pillows that one couldn’t actually sit in a chair anyway. And none matched. The shelves were overflowing with Christmas items stuffed on them…most ugly or just odd. His tasteful nativity wasn’t up anywhere in the room, nor were his candles or the angels they always had out. Even his dad’s display of antique toys wasn’t to be seen. Those had been put up at Christmas time in his dad’s family since his dad was four and his dad’s great-grandmother had given them to him to display for Christmas.

Kurt clenched his jaw and walked to the door to the basement. There was so much static that a bolt of electricity shot four inches to zap him from the handle.

Kurt closed his eyes and hoped that wasn’t an omen. He wondered where his dad was…or Carole or Finn for that matter.

Christmas music different than what was playing on the main floor blasted from down stairs. There were tinsel garlands hanging off the ceiling and handrail. And there were stands of jingle bells hanging down from the hand rail as well, so every step jingled.

“I told you I’m not going to some stupid party at the Fire Department. I refuse!” Finn shouted.

Kurt could hear the sounds from his video games blasting loudly enough to be heard over the Christmas Music.

Kurt stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Nothing in the basement was as he left it. In fact nothing of his seemed to be there at all.

“Where’s my stuff?” Kurt asked.

“Why are you here?” Finn yelled back. “I’m calling your dad! I’m telling!”

“Ok. Where’s my stuff?”

“We got rid of it. Except from the closet, because it was locked and Burt wouldn’t let us break in. I wanted to just throw it all out because you know…you don’t live here…but Burt made us keep it all so mom rented a storage unit and we put it all there. She’s trying to convince Burt that it doesn’t belong here at all anymore and we need access to the closet too.”

“Of course I live here.”

“No you don’t, your dad moved you to the school and so you live there and aren’t supposed to return any more.”

“Do neither of you understand how boarding schools work? Not to mention, I only was boarding as full time as I was the last few weeks because of my work load the last several weeks was so huge. I’m all caught up now and unless your mom is forking over 10,000 bucks, I won’t be boarding.”

“You can’t live here. Mom promised it was all mine now. Even if your dad wouldn’t let me have the stuff of yours I want, she is supposed to make him give it to me by Christmas…so you can’t be here and you have to give me all your good stuff…like your computer and TV and shit. Mom promised. I’m calling Mom! I’m telling Burt….I’m telling him right now, how you are sneaking in here and harassing me! I will.”

“So, Dad and your mother are at the party at the fire department?” Kurt asked, glaring at Finn.

“Probably. It sounded dumb. I don’t see why I should go and help out stupid little kids. No, go back where you came from.”

Kurt turned and marched back up the stairs. Not without noticing that there was five Christmas trees filled with various forms of sports paraphernalia and hunting stuff scattered around the basement, all live and half nearly bare due to the lack of needles, which littered the floor and all bone dry. The floor was also covered with dirty clothes and towels, food in various forms of rot and empty food boxes, empty soda cans and… empty beer and wine bottles… and other smelly things.

He marched out past the horrid decorations to his SUV. He put his suitcases back into the vehicle and drove to the fire station. He got out and stomped into the party…over to the adult games area, which his father was usually in charge of. Carole wasn’t there. Fire Chief Michaels was though.

“Burt Hummel.” Kurt snapped.

Burt dropped the bowling ball he was retrieving to hand to the next person playing Bowling For Pop.

“Kurt…when did you get home?” Burt asked.

“Today. AFTER YOU DID NOT COME GET ME ON THE 17TH WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE FOR PARENT’S DAY! I spent the days from the 17th to leaving time today working off demerit points for you missing it. Furthermore you have NOT answered any email or message left, or answered any calls from me and NOW you will be very sorry. I will not be able to board next semester. Because YOU couldn’t be bothered. I hope you have fun explaining that to your wife and new son, who shall be calling because I harassed him apparently by a) coming home and b) asking where all MY STUFF IS!”

Chief Michaels looked at Burt. “You forgot to go to Parent’s day at your kid’s school and forgot to check him out?”

“You got rid of all YOUR child’s stuff? Like what kind of stuff are we talking here?” Deputy Jones from the police department asked.

“All of it that I hadn’t locked in my closet. I have no bed, no dresser, my mother’s old vanity is gone, my TV and computer are missing, my sewing machine and everything!” Kurt said.

“I thought they left things be down there. Carole said she set Finn straight when he demanded the room cleared for his use.” Burt said.

“Yeah, well apparently not. Finn says they put it in a storage unit after you wouldn’t let them throw it out!” Kurt snapped. “Fix this! Fix this now, Dad. If it is NOT fixed by tomorrow, I will call YOUR Aunt Mildred. And fix the atrocity that our house has become. I am not kidding. I am taking photos, I am sending them to Aunt Mildred…I am sending them to Uncle Lou.”

“But Kurt, you don’t understand…”

“What? What don’t I understand?”

“Don’t you want Finn and Carole to be happy and feel welcome?” Burt asked.

“Finn and Carole can be happy and feel welcome without turning the house into a monstrosity and creating the biggest FIRE HAZAARD IN LIMA! Not to mention the biohazard that is now the basement! Things spark in there due to the static. And I’m surprised you haven’t been fined due to violation of any number of city ordinances…you know, the ones you always quoted to me when I asked for more lights than the strands along the roof.”

“But Carole said they always decorate big.” Burt said. “She said she would be crushed if she couldn’t decorate as much as she dreamed and that if she couldn’t decorate properly here then she’d have to go to her folks were it was properly decorated for the holidays. She so wanted to spend the holiday as a family, it would have upset her to have to leave to a properly decorated home.”

“And you bought that?” Kurt asked.

“She cried Kurt. She cried when I told her just one tree.”

“Yeah…I’m sure she did. I think you should check the accounting. I bet most is brand new. Except those horrid and tacky stockings…where is mine by the way?”

“Well. It upset Finn to have it, you know. And your gifts from me are at the garage because Finn only wants his under the tree…I told him yours would be under the tree for Christmas. Carole insisted she’d get him agree to it. He screamed and stomped off when I told him that.”

Fire Chief Michaels put his arm over Kurt’s shoulder. “Come on Kurt. I bet Santa has a treat for you, and I’ll set you up with a gift for the white elephant exchange and an ornament for the ornament exchange. There are playing bingo by the pole and we’re supposed to start a new round of name that tune in a few minutes. You always win at that. We’ve got some great prizes this year, too.”

He turned to Burt. “Burt, I’m with your kid on this. Fix it.”

“But Hal, you had a new wife. Surely you know how it is.” Burt said.

“I would have NEVER let Janice remove my kids’ stuff from our home. It is always home to ALL of us. And Cami had been off to college when I married Janice. Still wouldn’t let her get rid of Cami’s stuff until she’d moved into a place of her own and wasn’t living in dorms anymore. And then we asked. He’s your kid, Burt. He’s not all grown-up yet, he should still matter most.”

He turned Kurt away and started walking with him towards Santa.

“So tell me about the biohazard.” The chief said.

“Oh My God. Finn is so nasty. There is rotting food in my basement! On the floor! And stinky socks and underwear and loads of trash. I had it spotless over Thanksgiving. I thoroughly cleaned it after I got home from black Friday shopping and all Finn’s cousins were finally gone….”

Kurt watched his dad as he continued telling the Chief about the disaster that the house was in.

His dad was looking confused.

As Kurt was seeing Santa, the Chief headed back towards his dad and Deputy Jones.

Santa, otherwise known as Mr. Morrison, the owner of M&S grocers and farmers market, slipped Kurt an extra gift and told him to come back over when the night was over and he might slip Kurt more. He asked if Kurt was going to the old folks’ home, his dear mother would hate to miss him this year if he wasn’t. Kurt promised to be over the next day…minus cookies because he was certain his kitchen was not useable due to the amount of tinsel in the house. Kurt beamed when Mr. Morrison offered use of the store’s bakery and the company of Mrs. Morrison to help bake cookies for the old folks’ home.

Mrs. Michaels set Kurt up with items for the exchanges that would be happening soon and allowed Kurt to snatch up the set of wooden birds, one of which looked just like Pavarotti, in exchange for last minute mending to the nativity costumes. When he managed not just the hole in Joseph’s side seam and the tear in the shepherd’s robe where he stepped in it as his stood up, but also sufficient enough hemming on all the angels costumes so that no one tripped on them and ripped them, she also added the set of angel ornaments he looked at.

He won a Christmas candle, an old Reader’s Digest Christmas Treasury sheet music book that was still in near mint condition even though it was dated 1950, and a word puzzle book while playing name that tune, before he bowed out and let others have a chance to win. He won four bingos and picked out some fabulous snowflake cookies cutters, a stocking filled with crafting supplies (nice color pencils and drawing pencils, watercolor pencils, blenders and erasers, paint brushes, and a cute set of watercolors), a set of little tea lights that were battery powered, and an awesome winter themed throw that was very soft.

He won a set of cards that were Scooby-doo themed in the white elephant exchange and an owl ornament in the ornament exchange.

He also called around to find someplace to stay over that night. Jeff’s family lived near Liberty Hill Golf Club in Bellefontaine. It wasn’t quit an hour away and Jeff’s dad promised the snow had eased up and traffic would be fine. Their road was already plowed and clear. His mom would love to have Kurt for a day or two. Kurt told her it would be for the night at least, and maybe tomorrow night as well, but during the day he had a few commitments in Lima he needed to attend to, namely baking for the old folks’ home and a trip to the old folks’ home. After hearing Jeff’s mom go on about how sweet he was, Kurt thought he might even have company the next day…and wondered just how many siblings Jeff had.

Kurt told them he’d be there in about an hour and half. Then he went to find his dad again.

Burt was sitting at the table with the fire chief and Deputy Jones and Hank from the shop.

“Dad, I’m going to go stay at Jeff’s for the night. If things aren’t somewhat fixed by tomorrow afternoon when I am finished at the old folks’ home, I will stay there tomorrow night as well. Things will be fixed by then, as I will be at my home for Christmas. The basement will be cleaned and those trees removed, all the tinsel will be gone, the trees on the dining room table will be gone, and the tree in the living room will be removed of its tinsel, de-flocked as much as possible, and gone if it is too dry. Carole and Finn will be informed that they will be paying to fix the damage to the house since I know you were not stupid enough to do that. The music will not be there anymore…if any is there it will be ONE single song playing at a time. The music in the house will be quieter and tasteful, like you always made me play it when you relented and let me play anything, and something will be done with the Santa butts that are hanging out everywhere! I will also give you until tomorrow afternoon before I call Aunt Mildred. I’m going to stop by the house and grab a few things before heading out. So, yes, I was back at the house if Finn calls…no I will not be harassing him.”

“You saw the tree in the bathroom?” Burt asked.

“What tree in what bathroom?” Kurt said.

“Umm nevermind.”

“Dad….what tree?”

“The main floor bathroom has a tall thin tree in it that is covered with hot tub Santas and bathtub Santas and outhouse ornaments. They collect them. They have them from many states and all sorts open to show them being used by everything from Santa to moose to one that even had Jesus in it.”

“Excuse me?” Kurt said. “And they had the nerve to comment on my lack of religion.”

“Finn’s vacation bible sleep-away camp sold them.”

Kurt just shook his head.

“See you tomorrow Dad. I do love you, you know…but this is not OK.”

Kurt stopped by Santa to solidify his plans for the next day, and came away with two books he’d wanted to read and two more puzzles books and three heatable rice packs, two small scent candles, four Christmas scented lotions, and two textures washcloths…and a basket. Jeff’s mother would get a nice little spa basket as a thank you gift for letting him invade.

Kurt hit the house on his way out of town. He left his goodies in the car. He used his phone camera to take pictures of everything that horrified him. He even went in the bathroom and found the Jesus in the outhouse ornament and took special care to take a photo of that. He realized his dad hadn’t mentioned that there was also various naked Santa ornaments, with different type of hats placed so his privates wouldn’t be seen.

Several hundred photos later, Kurt decided enough was documented. He had gone downstairs and photographed the carnage that was his basement. Finn hadn’t even noticed as he had huge headphone on and the TV blasted enough louder than before. He was singing to something other than the Christmas song that was blaring away, so Kurt knew music was playing through his headphones as well. It was a wonder the idiot wasn’t deaf.

Kurt grabbed the old recipe books with the cookie recipes he always took to the old folks’ home in them and the emergency sleep kit from the garage, just in case he needed a sleeping bag or something. He stopped and bought himself fast food on the way out of town.

The snow was just slightly falling and the roads, though icy, were free of snow. The plows had been out. The drive was peaceful and nice. Kurt found a public radio station that was reading The Christmas Carol over the radio. He made great time and was to Jeff’s house within an hour.

Jeff’s house was huge. There were lit deer in the front, looking like they were eating at the base of one tall spiral light tree and a few smaller ones…all the same bright white lights. The house’s trim was lined with white lights, except the door, which was lined in green light. Several trees in the yard were light as well, properly lit and covered by the same lights. There was a single evergreen wreath on the front door. It had a large red bow on it.

Kurt took a moment to put together a small overnight pack, gathering the items he’d need from his luggage and putting them into his school bag. When he looked up again, Jeff was on his way down the front path to the drive to help him with anything. Jeff assured Kurt he didn’t need his emergency sleep kit, but his dad would love to hear about it when they got in. Kurt handed Jeff his bag when Jeff insisted on carrying something and carried in the gift basket for Jeff’s mom.

Jeff’s mom was as vivacious as Jeff and Jeff’s dad was delightful as well. His mom handed a hot cup of cocoa to Kurt nearly as soon as he stepped into the foyer.

Their Christmas tree…single… was huge as well, but it was against the wall and set off nearly in a corner of the room. It was covered with white lights that were steady and had a ribbon that wound from the top to the bottom…red and white candy cane striped. There were red and white balls…not glass yet because Jeff had little siblings who touched too much still…but mostly scattered tastefully about the tree were more random type ornaments that represented Jeff’s family. Jeff found his baby’s 1st Christmas ornament and then showed Kurt all seven others…with the triplets having the same ornament in different colors.

Kurt met the triplets, who were almost four, Joanne, who was 11 months older than Jeff and James who was 11 months younger. He found out that the other two, Kim and Karen, were significantly older than Joanne…and that Jeff’s dad was their step-dad. Both were married with kids of their own and would be descending upon the family on the 24th.

There was soft Christmas music playing in the background as the family talked and watched a movie. A scented candle burned in the kitchen, filling the air with a light evergreen scent.

Kurt looked around. There was a fireplace with stockings hung along the mantle, but these stockings were all denim with different colored plaid cuffs and heels and toes. Jeff told Kurt his grandmother made them for each kid…Karen’s kids were a darker denim and Kim’s kids were a very light denim, but they still matched. Each stocking had a pocket, like the back pocket of a pair of pants on the front and a letter sticking out of it.

They looked good against the mantle, and the evergreen garland that trimmed it. The evergreen garland had little plaid bows decorating it and pinecones and woodland critters.

A garland trimmed the top of the bookshelves as well.

There were Christmas throw pillows, that matched and were cute…and that matched the Christmas fleece blankets that draped over the back of the couch and chairs when not in use by people.

There were candles on the window sill, fake. However having watched one of the small ones tip them over no less then five times, well Kurt thought fake was probably the safest bet for maybe the next ten years.

Jeff’s house was blessedly free of tinsel.

After the movie Jeff’s parents sent everyone off to bed and Jeff showed Kurt the guestroom he could use.

It was decorated by Christmas’s bedding and a bow over the mirror on the dresser. There was a small Christmas Bear sitting on the dresser as well. It didn’t do anything.

“The other guestroom is more pink and had dolls on the dresser. I thought this might be better. There is one of those play and pack baby bed things under the bed, though, so be careful not to stub your toe. There is a bathroom through the door with the lever type handle. The door with the knob goes to the closet.”

“Thanks Jeff, you and your family are life savers. You’ve salvaged my whole day.”

“It’s been fun and I’m glad I could help. I can’t believe your family forgot you were coming home today.”

Kurt shrugged. “I guess maybe things have been busy at the garage…I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

They chatted a bit longer, mostly about the garage and things Kurt did there and what types of cars they worked on. Jeff loved cars and motors of all sorts, so was thrilled to have someone with any interest in them as well to talk to. Before too long, though, Jeff’s mom came and hustled him off to his own room so Kurt could get some sleep.

Jeff’s mom ruffled his hair as she left, like she did Jeff’s. It was nice.

As Kurt crawled into bed, he couldn’t decide if he hoped his dad had fixed things by the next afternoon or if he hoped to be able to spend one more evening at Jeff’s, where he was more welcome than he was in his own house.

When he turned off the light he discovered one more holiday item in the room…a candle nightlight lit the room with a soft glow. He texted his Dad’s Aunt Mildred and asked if she knew a way to keep at Dalton past the quarter.

#glee fanfic #Kurt Hummel #hummelholidays

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