O Christmas Tree

We started decorating the Christmas tree last evening.  We have about eleven billion zillion ornaments, and I usually buy one new one a year.

It takes a long time to place them all, and usually Daughter and I do it together. She had to work today, so I've been putting three or four ornaments on every time I walk by.

So many memories! It's amazing how I recall who gave it to me, or where it was purchased. 

We've said other than the tree, we are only going to put up the garland on the staircase and decorate the mantel. And of course my ivory nativity set will be placed somewhere.

That's what we said last year, and wound up doing a whole lot more. It's kinda like; well, here the stuff is we might as well...

Anyway, we'll see how it goes this year.  More will be revealed, I guess.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Better Late Than Never

We are finally getting the rest of our Christmas decorations down. I know the date, don't bother to tell me.

Don't make fun of me either. At least it's still January.

The cats are terribly excited, especially Eli.

But he got a little confused. I think he thought we were putting stuff on the tree, not off the tree.

So, he decided he would help.

The grey fuzzy thing is his favorite toy, a mouse. He brought it to the tree and laid it on a bottom branch.

I think this will be the last thing we take off the tree, unless he removes it first.

Ain't that sweet?

Christmases Before This One Heading Our Way

There are very few Christmases in my life when it snowed on that very day.

I remember a few, one being just a couple of  years back, and if you lived here, you certainly haven't forgotten it!

We had a dusting once when Daughter was four or so, and it snowed all Christmas Day, which made for a pleasant atmosphere while gazing out the window.

Maybe half a dozen times (maybe not) besides these, there has been a bit of snow - a flurry, a dusting, a this or that.

So, why is it when I think of Christmas shopping, Christmas Trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas Day for Heaven's sake, I always think of snow?

Many secular Christmas songs have snow dotted hither and yon throughout the verses, and  you know many people (maybe even you) flock their Christmas tree so that it looks as though it has been snowed upon. (If it did, wouldn't that mean you needed to turn up  your thermostat a little?)

I doubt, like almost one hundred percent, that the first Christmas had snow. I mean, I know God can do anything, and I ain't saying it for sure didn't snow that day, just that I kinda doubt it.

So here's to sleigh bells, jingle bells, horse sleighs dashing through the snow, snowflakes on your eyelashes, snowmen in the yard, snow cream in a bowl and blizzards only at the Dairy Queen.

But, really, wouldn't a little snow this  year be nice?

Alarmed and Frustrated

Daughter and I have spent the majority of the day on the telephone with doctor's offices. Not just one office, mind you, but six of 'em.

If that doesn't make you sick, they don't deserve to be called doctors.

Daughter got a disturbing call that a test came back abnormal. We cried, prayed, and consulted nurse friends who said not to worry (the doctor's office said the same thing), that it was probably a false positive.

Probably.

She's also having some other issues, as am I.

I said sarcastically that apparently it was up to our family to support the entire North Georgia Medical Field.

This was the day we were supposed to be decorating the Christmas Tree.

Well, the day ain't over, so I am about to go forth and be merry, dang it.

Prayers from you, dear reader are greatly appreciated.

Until tomorrow,

The Calm and Stoic Blogger

Of Stinky Brothers, Hunky Boyfriends and Falling Christmas Trees

Long ago, in a house about five miles away, lived a family of which I happened to be a member.

I was fifteen, my stinky twin brothers were five, and my daddy had gone to pick up my mother from work.

My handsome, hunky fifteen year old boyfriend showed up early, and I figured it wouldn't hurt for us to be alone (if you excluded the stinky twins) for a few minutes. He wasn't allowed to be at my house unless some parent or other was present, but for a few minutes, what could go wrong?

May I take a moment to say: HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Five year old boys get stinkier by the minute when a boyfriend is around.

I hope, nay, I pray, they have been repaid for their vile behavior of long ago.

Trying to get just two minutes of kissy and cuddle from my absolutely gorgeous boyfriend, I turned my back on aforementioned stinkos, and what, you may ask, did they do?

I'll tell you what they did. They climbed behind our rickety, starting to dry out Christmas tree and TURNED IT OVER.

No one can be as embarrassed as a fifteen year old girl in front of her movie star looking boyfriend.

If one could kill with tinkling ornaments, I would have returned to the land of being an only child.

And beautiful boyfriend? He was laughing so hard he couldn't get off the couch.

But, finally, when I told him my parents were going to walk through that door ANY MINUTE, he got it together, and being about six feet five inches tall, he picked up the tree, and screwed it back into the stand with no problem. (He had three stinky baby brothers, so it was probably no big deal to him.)

I mopped up the water, gave the tree fresh water, and we hurriedly put the ornaments back on, albeit in a haphazard way.

I doubt my parents even noticed, as I was the one who did all the decorating anyway. But I figured they woulda caught on if the tree had been lying prone in the middle of the living room floor. They weren't THAT disinterested.

My stinky brothers, of course, had turned into angelic cherubs, due to fear of beheading.

So, by the time my parents got home, we were all watching TV as though nothing had ever happened.

And my stunning boyfriend did not dump me because of the incident.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is true love.