O Christmas Tree

Thank you to asthmagirl for helping me out with typepad!  I have so much to learn and will be practicing when I'm off work for the week after Christmas!  Now back to regular scheduled posting!

I am overly obsessed with the Christmas tree, unreasonably so, embarrassingly so.  The fact that I know i'm unreasonably obsessed, makes it not so bad right?  I'm convinced I was born that way.  Ever since I can remember I've had a love/hate relationship the the tree.  I loved the idea of what I wanted, and hated what I got.  In my memory of childhood Christmas trees there are no warm fuzzy feelings.  Instead I remember anger, frustration and resignation.  I don't know how my mom put up with me!  Getting a tree was very hard for her too.  She has never had a driver's license, so we either had to depend on my dad to come with us to pick a tree (I have no memory of this happening, though my mom claims it did) or take the tree on the bus!  Have you ever seen a frazzled mom on the bus with two kids and a Christmas tree?  Let me tell you it is not a pretty sight.  Can you imagine what the people on the bus were thinking when we got on?  "Please don't sit next to me, please don't sit next to me!" said with fingers crossed and eyes closed.  This meant we could not get the large, grand, full tree I always wanted.  We went to Chubby and Tubby where every tree was $5, no matter what the size.  I would beg, plead and gry for the biggest, gullest tree on the lot.  Of course we always got the smallest, most see through tree.  The size had to be manageable for the bus and the table top my mom put it on.  We had the typical Charlie Brown tree.  Once we got it home and decorated, it really wasn't such a bad little tree (I guess *sighs*).  When I was a preteen my mom gave up and bought an artificial tree.  I was devastated and refused to help decorate it for many years.  She said the smell of the real trees bothered her allergies, but looking back I'm sure she just couldn't bear getting on the bus with two kids and a Christmas tree again.

Later, married and living in Hawaii, we spend $50 on our first tree together.  It was a Douglas Fir, exactly like the Charlie Brown trees I had growing up, only taller, there was no way I was getting a table top tree.  What we lacked in ornaments my husband made up for in tinsel.  The tinsel covered what little green the tree had, I had to wear sunglasses to look at it.  The next year we were still in Hawaii and we spent the normal $50, but got a fluffier, sheared Doug Fir.  I had more ornaments thanks to my mom bringing me a care package from home.  My parents were visiting; mom and I were happily decorating.  I felt like progress was being made to have my dream tree, when suddenly my mom screamed and the cat jumped into the tree.  Apparently the cat, who I thought was watching us decorate, was actually stalking a lizard who was living in the tree.  In her effort to grab the lizard the cat knocked the tree to the ground.  Ornaments, lights, needles and water went everywhere.  My mom was traumatized.  I heard her mumbling about artificial trees not having lizards.

Once we moved back to Seattle the tree drama continued.  We decided to go the tree farm route to find the perfect ree.  They never looked as good when we got them home as they did at the farm.  There would always be a branch here or there that wasn't perfect (did I mention I'm obsessed) or the whole trunk would be crooked, or it would be full of bugs that would hatch after the tree warmed up.  I thought about the possibility of getting an artificial tree for a few years before the final straw.  We had gotten a tree at a nursery in our nice little waterfront town.  It was perfect until day three when all the soft, green needles started falling off by the handful from the middle of the tree out.  I called the nice little nursery where the "tree expert" told me it sounded like the tree had a fungus and could I bring a branch in for them to look at.  I packed up 6 kids (1 mine, 5 daycare) and a snipped branch and went to the little nursery.  Upon inspection I was told it did have a fungus and they would be happy to give me a certificate for a free tree next year!  Huh?  What about this year?  He showed me that they had no trees left in the variety and size we purchased and wouldn't be getting more.  That was it, I was done!  Once again I packed 6 kids into the van and went to the big name home improvement store and got an artificial tree.  THE. BEST. $100. EVER. SPENT! 

My obsession with the tree did not end there.  It transfered to the lights (all 1,000) and the placement of ornaments.  This year I had a mini-tantrum when it came to the lights.  Each year I carefully wind up the strings of lights, lay them gently in the box and tuck them away for a nice long nap.  When I tried waking them up this year half of them would not wake up!  How do strings of lights, nicely tucked away die in their sleep?!  I ranted, swore, stomped  sighed heavily and my husband took pity on me.  He went to the drug store, at 8:00pm no less, to buy more lights.  What a sweetie!

The decorated style of my tree has evolved over the years from tinsel, to bows and fake snow, to garlands of bead and ornaments of lace, to precious moments, to what I have now, which is a complete hodge-podge!  I have 50 year old ornaments, ornaments from my childhood, ornaments hand made by my children and everything in between.

These two little ornaments came from my mom.  She had these  before I was born and I've always loved them.  The little angel is wood and very precious.  The red velvet ball was made by my mom's cousin and I love that I think of him every year when it comes out of the box.

 

 

The next ones were milestone ornaments.  The year I got my guitar, had the Japanese exchange student stay with us and the year I got my license.

 

 

 

This one is from my grandma's tree

 

Self explanatory

 

Handmade by my daughter

 

Overall I think it all works

Comments

[Asthmagirl]

Nice Linking! Look at you being a pro!

So two obscessed friends... how does one of us still have a real tree and the other has gone down the artificial path? It's not logical, I tell you!

Nice post!

[noble pig]

Oh geez that tree is beautiful! Just gorgeous!

[Meg]

Wow, what a tree! I'm obsessed with Christmas trees but not quite as much as you. It does look lovely. Good job on the tree and the lights. I love your ornaments!

[Julie]

I finally got a pre-lit tree last year. I'm horrible about putting the lights the tree and always get fed up w/ it.

I have always love the homemade ornaments. I helped my mom decorate her tree(s) this year and found some of my ornaments that my sister & I had made when we were kids.