Our Christmas Tree...

I really should have moved that empty box out of the way before I took the picture. I cropped one out, but that one was too close to the tree. And I was too lazy to move it and take another one. Actually, I was doing all this while I was on the phone with Sweet Girl. Thank goodness for a bluetooth....

Multitasking does not come easily to me. On most occasions UNITASKING is a stretch.

I love decorating the tree, if for no other reason than seeing the special ornaments we have on there. I knew Sweet Girl was officially grown two years ago when we had to split up the ornaments and let her take the ones that were really hers.

I have some red and gold balls, but I never put them on the tree. Instead I put them in a huge crystal vase I was given for a going-away present from one of the many schools I have left, and they look nice in there.

I don't have many ornaments on the tree that are alike. Except for the four Pepsi logo ornaments that came in a set and hubby received at the company Christmas party a few years ago. Back when they HAD a company Christmas party. And got gifts. Actually, I only have two of the Pepsi logo ornaments now. Sweet Girl took two of them to her place. It felt kind of like a divorce, splitting up the ornaments.

I have many Disney ornaments from my two trips to Disney World. I went the first time ever only 3 years ago, the week before Christmas. It turned very cold that week; our car was iced over when we started home. I love Tinkerbell; I remember having a Tinkerbell placemat when I was about four years old, before our SECOND house burned down. That's a story for another post. So I have several Tinkerbell ornaments, along with Mickey on a motorcycle and Mickey swinging a golf club.

I have a replica of the cruise ship hubby and I were on last year. I also have a gold replica of the Biltmore House, where we visited in '99. I've tried to buy Christmas ornaments from many of the places we've visited, but they don't always have them.

Some of my favorites are the glass ornaments that Sweet Girl and I painted together one Christmas when it was just the two of us and we lived in a tiny, tiny duplex. Painting ornaments and raising a pre-teen was just about the only thing that kept me sane in the throes of depression that particular year.

I favor all white lights; hubby prefers multi-colored. Sweet Girl is with me. When I got the prelit tree, it was all white lights. So hubby lost that one.

Sweet Girl hates the ribbons on the tree, and she hates the giant one on top in a giant way. We used to have an angel on top, but she took it to her house. The first year I ever put ribbons on a Christmas tree, Katydid and I were sharing a house. We went and bought fabric and cut and tied the ribbons ourselves. I don't remember whose idea it was. Now they have ribbons with those wire twisty-things, and they're so much easier. But I think I've had ribbons on my tree every year since Katydid and I painstakingly tied all those ribbons on our tree.

I have a few crocheted ornaments that I made myself. Thanks to MamaNeena, I've been crocheting ornaments again this year. Pretty soon I'll run out of friends to give them to. I'm finding that crocheting now hurts my hands, especially using the thread I have to use to make ornaments. Just what I needed, another reminder that I'm getting old(er).

One of my favorites is an ornament that says "Our First Christmas" that HUBBY bought at.... you guessed it.... our first Christmas together. You'd have to know him to appreciate that. Not that he's afraid to show his emotions, but he's not what I'd call sentimental. Especially when it comes to paying good money for things you don't technically need. He looked a little shell-shocked when he came home with it.

On the other hand, this is the same guy I told last weekend about a family two of my students had adopted for Christmas as their senior project. When I told him how sad their Christmas wish list was, he handed me an envelope with his winnings from a golf tournament that weekend. Did I mention he's the world's last perfect man? I mean did I mention it yet today?