CHRISTMAS TREE IS UP!....NOVEMBER 30 2011

Hooray!  Tree is up!  Didn't even break a sweat.
How can that be?  There is another story.

Tom and I were married a little over 30 years.  He was a very special person.  Had to be to put up with me.  Anyhoo, one Christmas, probably about 18 years ago now, was putting up the tree.  For some reason I was always the one elected.  Still am.



After Tom passed on this beautiful portrait of him was painted for me by my artist friend Georgia Dangel of Sardis Ohio

 It was artificial, had used it for years, and that one particular year as fast as I would insert the branches into the trunk, they would fall back out, or turn upside down.  Knowing me, I am complaining about that "stupid" tree, and other  phrases.  My patience is not the greatest.  I remember saying "that's it", throwing in the towel.  Tom asked what was I doing.  I was stuffing the stupid tree into a trash bag, that is what I was doing.

Poor man.  He got this horrified look on his face, (as back then didn't get around to the decorating as early as I should have) and said "It's almost Christmas!  What are we going to do about a tree?".

I informed him that we were going to go tree shopping, get your hat.  Poor guy, he never knew what was going to happen next.  So off we went.  Of course by that time the pickings were pretty slim.  We went here and there and back again.  Finally in some little hardware store, I don't even remember the name now, I found the PERFECT tree. 

Tree went home with us.  Got all the ornaments and lights on said tree.  It looked beautiful.  Tom just sat there, he really didn't know what to say, so decided to say nothing.  We had always had a tall tree, sitting on the floor.  Now it is a short tree sitting on a table. 

But the best part of this entire story is:  I never un-decorate my tree.  I have a big green round trash receptacle.  At the end of the season, I unplug said tree, set it in said receptacle, cover the top with a big green trash bag and set it in the storage area, where all the decorations are stored.

Now, is that smart or what?  I don't mind having the job of getting the tree ready for Christmas anymore.

Only thing left now is the manger scene.  I need Jerry to help me with that.  Not that it is big or anything, it is not, but it is the Thomas Kinkaid that he bought piece by piece and the last thing I need to do is drop a piece and break it.  And my fingers don't work as well as they used to, so I have all the boxes out and ready, he is on vacation this week, so said he would help get it set up.

We can't decorate outside as up here on our hill we get so much wind, that anything we set out blows away.  Even the heavy wooden deck furniture will be blown over, it hasn't blown away yet, but there is always a first time.

So enjoy your decorating, you know what to do if you get really really unhappy with your tree (I am being polite), and God Bless.