Saturday, December 05, 2009

Christmas

Last night Andrew and I put up the Christmas tree and lights. It was a harrowing experience - you would think that getting up a fake pre-lighted tree would be easy. But, no, it's actually pretty hard to get it straight. And fluff out the branches. And put on the second string of colored lights (because I hate white lights). And then put the lights up around the window without knocking down the curtains. But it's done, and the Ugliest Tree In America is up.

I hate fake trees. I try to not hate them, but I do. Maybe if we had a really nice one that looked real, I wouldn't hate it so much. I want a real tree that permeates the smell of pine through my entire 881 SF of living space. We got a real tree the first two years we were married, but last year we gave up and just got the fake one. We'll probably have it until we move - if it makes it that long. One branch is already broken. Nothing says class like an elastic band holding up your tree branches.

While we were hanging up the ornaments Andrew was hanging an old homemade ornament with his baby picture on it, and I grabbed it out of my hand. I knew Baby Girl looked him, of course. But seeing that picture threw me for a loop. You put longer hair on baby Andrew and you've got Baby Girl. There is no mistaking whose child that is. Unless of course you look at me, then you might wonder where she came from. But, as I was hanging my own ornaments of me as a baby, I saw one of me taken when I was right around my niece's age. Though she has blond hair and I had brown hair, we could be twins. At least someone looks like me. Granted, my own child and I don't share any resemblances. Le sigh. Maybe the next one will have SOMETHING of mine!

Speaking of Baby Girl, when she woke up this morning (and after I so rudely changed her diaper - she was greatly offended by that) she and I went out to the living room and it was still dark. I have to work on teaching her that the weekends are for sleeping in. So I knew she'd be fascinated by the tree the the lights, so I plugged them in. To say she was enthralled was an understatement. I thought she was going to back flip out of my arms to get a better look at everything. She was staring at the lights and reaching out to touch the tree. She would look back at me and then stare at the lights again. She just couldn't take it all in fast enough. It can't wait until she knows what Santa is all about!

5 comments:

Bree said...

I'm glad we can still be friends even though I feel the same way about colored lights as you do about white lights.

Unknown said...

I'm okay with white lights... I just don't like when all there is are white lights. I'm very picky about my Christmas lights. When we have a house, we will only have colored lights outside. Maybe then I will allow white lights on the tree without any colored ones. It's all about the white to colored ratio.

Bree said...

I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're still talking about lights with that last sentence, and that we haven't delved into some pre-civil war thought processes...

Unknown said...

um, yes. White lights to colored lights ratio :)

Unknown said...

Out office has a fake tree which is somewhat disappointing. We do, however, get the pine smell as our Chief of Staff put together a wreath with pine needles that's displayed near the clearly fake tree.