Just Another Christmas Miracle

The season started early for us this year... and I'm not in the least ashamed to say that we broke the Thanksgiving rule.  It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving when I awoke to the sounds of Jessica Simpson belting out The Little Drummer Boy that I knew K was in holiday decorating mode.  I came downstairs to find about 8000 icicle lights strung all over the living room and half of our artificial tree put up.  But darn it all, who am I to stop a man who's in the mood to decorate.  So I helped.

We had a dilemma this year... where to put the Christmas tree?  In houses past, it's always been an easy answer because we've only had ONE room to put a tree in.  But this year caught us in a conundrum.  Hmm.  I wanted a tree up in our front room because we have lovely bay windows and you could see the tree from the street.  But... we never use that room.  And wouldn't we rather have a tree in the room where we can sit and gaze at it's glory as we bond as a family?  Which is just another way of saying, while we watch TV. 

So our solution?  Get 2 trees.  And the prospect of this excited me even more because that meant that this year I could pull out the COLORED BLINKIES!  You see, the artificial tree, which I do love, is pre-wired with white twinklies.  But, deep in my soul I'm a colored blinky type of gal.  One special Christmas about 9 years ago, I fought ruthlessly with my roommate and best friend over what type of lights we were going to put on our Christmas tree.  I remember being somewhere in the hardware section of Home Depot yelling "COLORED BLINKIES" and her yelling "WHITE TWINKLIES!"  We were really mature like that.  And are solution then?  We got two trees.  And we put them both up in our one bedroom 700 square foot apartment.  It was a happy Christmas.

So it's two days before Thanksgiving, and up goes our White Twinkly Tree and outside lights.  Our neighbors all drove by and yelled that we were breaking the Thanksgiving Rule, but I only gobbled back in reply.  We were in the spirit damn it!

I realized that putting up two trees would necessitate the buying of new ornaments and other sundries.  And for the first time ever, I decided to decorate a tree purely on looks, not sentimental value.  I was going to save Colored Blinky Tree for that.  So, I toddled on over to KMart (which I loathe but tolerate due to the Martha Stewart line) and bought all the snowflakes, icicles, and silver bulbs that I could find.  I got a new silver tree skirt and a gorgeous sparkly star tree topper.  The tree is very gorgeous and very Martha.  (And I threw some cheapy Ikea lights on our pillars - behold, the Roman Empire - to secure our Christmas cards.)

But to get that warm feeling of sentiment and memories of ornaments past... let me lead you to the family room.  

And behold, The Colored Blinky Tree.  Felled by us a week ago today.  We chopped it down ourselves!  Just another bonus of living in Virginia... tree farms everywhere!  We bundled up the kids, drove to Leesburg, and picked out this jolly little Douglas Fir.  (If you look closely in the second picture, you can see the frozen boogers.  And Max isn't pleased to be posing for a picture if you can't tell.) 

We finally decided on a tree because K said that blah blah blah... I better choose one NOW and that yes, I could find something wrong with all 2000 trees that were available, and in the meantime, your son's hands have gone numb and Clara's boogers are frozen to her face, blah blah blah.  So, this is the one we chose, which happily for K was right next to the packing up shed and parking area.  After we sawed down the tree and dragged it over, they measured it, we paid, and K went to tie it onto the car.  And this would be the scene of our second Christmas miracle.  (Our First Miracle of Christmas involved K falling down the stairs holding a cup of hot chocolate and spilling nary a drop.) 

The kids and I were waiting in the warmed up car while K secured our newly felled tree to the top.  As he was doing this, I noticed a Subaru coming very quickly down the snowy hill in reverse.  It was gaining speed and heading straight for K and our van.  I screamed out the window right as the Subaru came to a screeching halt about 3 feet away from us.  As I was getting out to spew venom at the driver an older woman came running over to see if we were OK.  Apparently the car belonged to her, and she had parked it at the top of the snowy hill.  NO ONE was in the car.  Hello freaky.  K's Guardian Angel not only saved his hot chocolate, but now has seemingly saved his life.  And I kid you not when I say the car came to a screeching halt.  Coincidence?  Or a Miracle of Christmas? 

We drove back home in a very somber mood.  Max was soaked from having frolicked in the snow and Clara was exhausted.  We stopped by WalMart (my first time there since Cow Town thank you very much) to get a tree stand.  Somehow during the course of 3 moves, we had lost ours.  It is living out it's life somewhere in Moving Land with the lid to my cruet, K's little Buddha guy, and our rake.  But I digress.

Next came the lighting of the real tree.  This is my job.  Not because I want it, but because K's version of lighting a tree is hocking a strand at it and seeing where it lands.  If it stays on?  It's GOOD!  Yeah, not so much how I like a tree to be lit.  So for the next 3 hours, I light my little Douglas.  We hold off decorating until the next afternoon... when behold, we witness the Third Miracle of Christmas.

I had just finished putting on the last ornament and moving all of the ones K had placed on the tree to better places.  I turned my back to walk into the kitchen when whoosh... the tree starts to fall!  I turn and see the giant decorated beast heading right towards my person... and catch it!  I'm holding it there, watching as ornaments rain down onto the floor, and yelling for K to come and help me.  And of course, right at that moment, K was in the bathroom.  He hears the desperation in my voice and comes running.  Here is where I'll leave out a few details of what K was holding... but let me just put it this way, he could not at that moment help me with the tree.  I waited there, demonstrating some impressive waxy flexibility.  We eventually fixed the tree upright, and it was good.

So the house is finally decorated.  And we've experienced three miracles.  I'm hoping that the Fourth Miracle of Christmas will be the moment that our final roll of one-ply toilet paper is finally used up.  That will be cause for true celebration my friends.

More pictures:

Those are my rosemary Christmas trees.  The plates on the wall are not, as was pointed out to me, two snowman humping.  They are these.  On the right is my picture wreath with all of my nieces and nephews... lest my children forget who they are related to.

Pretty Christmas ornaments that I hung from a fan.  K likes to turn the fan on and see if he can get them to launch off.  Nice.  And on the right, pretty silver candle holders that I think I'll keep out year round.

New Christmas stockings and my olive wood nativity... bought 12 years ago from Mr. Baghdadi in Jerusalem.

More sparkly stuff and mistletoe, in case Steven Tyler or Jessica Simpson comes over.

Mantle decorations... aka, Ode to Hobby Lobby.

A new ornament and a basking Max.  We love Christmas!

Comments

[Mom]

Um - one of your father's wrapping jobs needs some tape!

[Mom]

And, your home looks gorgeously Christmasy.

[Sharmyn]

Ahh you went to Leesburg - lucky! Hooray for your Christmas Miracles - particularly Miracle #2. Glad you are all safe. I want to come and drink hot chocolate in your sparkly wonderland beautiful home!!

[Mom]

Did I copy you or did you copy me with the "frame wreath"? And, who is in the frame in the lower right of the picture? Just curious (or nosy). Love you guys.

[Mom]

Ach. I think I figured it out. Is it that awful photo of Catherine?!?!?!? If it is, I'm sending you another to replace it!

[Mom]

Now I'm worried. If it isn't Catherine it is what I consider an "awful" photo of someone else! It isn't. Awful I mean. Unless it is that awful photo of Catherine and then it is awful. But not if it's someone else.

[Sus]

It's TREVOR! And it's a darling photo! Did you pop some Xanax this morning?

[Snakeye]

Dude, I'm a colored blinky guy. I'll have to get you to talk some sense into Pam next Christmas... this Christmas I've already given in, and we put up a "white twinlky"

[Mom]

Oops. Maybe I SHOULD have popped a pill. I sound a little, um, deranged. Just the stress of the season, I guess. It IS a good picture of Trevor. If it were Catherine it would NOT be a good picture. That's all I'm sayin'.

[Lins]

That little exchange, Becky and Sus, had me laughing!!!
And will you please please please post the story of getting out the Christmas tree from the garage in Douglas Close? And the mouse?
Your decorations look gorgeous. And don't you call them LIGHTS???? I'm for white ones. All the way! But your tree looks lovely so I could be persuaded!

[Jenny]

I honestly never knew there was this much controversy about the color or lack of color in lights, until I married in to the Brooks' family, but I just figured it was because their a unique bunch....guess I'm the "weirdo" and don't much care either way - as long as the tree is lit.... :)

[Jen]

I'm a white twinkly type of girl myself. But you and my husband can commiserate about how horrible white twinklies are,,, I'll still win. Your house looks beautiful and it looks even more beautiful knowing you are alive and well to enjoy it! The subaru story is crazy! Oh, and I ditto Lins,,, the conversation between you and your mom was hilarious!