O Christmas Tree

About a week ago, Amanda asked me if I was sorry that I wouldn't have all of my usual Christmas decor up this year.  Matt and I don't go all Griswold, but do have the normal trimmings that we put up each year (tree, garland, wreaths, nutcrackers, lights on the house, etc.) and I always look forward to it.  I love coming home to a lit up house with a decorated Christmas tree after work and the gym, and I hadn't even really considered the fact that I'd be in a un-Christmased apartment all by myself for most of the month.

Christmas is the bright spot in an otherwise dreary season.  I know some people love winter, but to me it means darkness, cold, desolate flower beds, and sadness.  I don't know why I equate winter with sadness, but it seems I'm happier the rest of the year.  I think regular sunshine has a lot to do with it, and during the winter, I leave for work when it's dark and come home when it's dark.  That's depressing.

Christmas brings warmth, joy, color, and the most wonderful reminder of how much we are loved.  It brings people together and always makes me thankful for God's countless blessings in my life.

Growing up, we had two kinds of Christmases in terms of decorations... when we were younger, we always went to get a fresh-cut Christmas tree (usually cut ourselves) and decorated it with our colored lights and assortment of handmade ornaments.  Some years, we procrastinated and didn't get the tree right away (even going on Christmas Eve one year), but we had a tree and always watched our taped (off of the tv) copy of the Seattle Ballet's The Nutcracker soon after decorating it.

As we got older (and busier), my dad took on a new perspective: no decorating.  We used to tease him about this and he even has a "Bah Humbug" flag that he occasionally displays on the mantle in lieu of the other festive decor. 

I don't think I'll ever be a "Bah Humbug" kind of girl.  Every year, our Christmas decor gets just a teeny bit bigger, and every year I chomp at the bit to put it up.  I promised Matt early on that I'd never be one of those wives that forces her husband to hang Christmas lights, endangering his livelihood by making him hang perilously off of the steep inclines of the roof,  and have therefore never told them to put them up, but every year I secretly hope deep down that he'll do it anyway so that I don't have to suffer through the month without lights (an insufferable fate, I know). 

I realize the decorations aren't what make up Christmas, but they sure do bring with them a festive way to usher in the celebration of our Savior's birth!  To be quite honest, I was starting to feel a little sorry for myself seeing everyone's Christmas tree blog photos or the cars driving around town with their trees on top.  Even the single guys next door have a tree and fresh wreath up. 

And then on Friday, as I was checking the office bulletin board, I saw that someone had a Christmas tree stand free to a good home.  Hello?!  I figured I could decorate a tree on a small budget this year.  I don't need my stash of Christmas goodies.

So I claimed the stand and spent Saturday running errands.  I picked up about $12 worth of cheap glass bulbs and ribbon and then grabbed a couple of strands of lights.  I picked the smallest size of (real) trees that Lowe's had - still > 6' tall - and even loaded that sucker onto the truck all by myself.  I didn't realize how much I relied on Matt for the simplest little things until I got home and had to untie it, take it down, haul it up the steps, and put it in the precarious little stand all on my own.  (Thank you, honey, for always helping me out with things around the house!)

I spent last night cheering the Tigers on to a major victory and decorating my own little Christmas tree while it snowed outside.  By the time I was done, the lawn was covered in a beautiful white blanket and my living room faintly smelled like a Christmas tree. It took some of the edge off of being away from home during the holidays.

Merry Christmas!