The whole experience was quite discombobulating, because usually I put up the tree. This is also the first year we've had the tree in the family room, because we re-arranged a bunch of furniture, and it doesn't fit in the living room anymore. I'm pleased about it being in the family room anyway. Now we'll see it all the time, instead of having to make a major effort to go into the living room. Of course, this may mean I get sick of it a lot sooner, too, but I hope not.
I admit, I was not really in the mood to do it, which is just as well -- I didn't get in DH's way at all while he put it together and did the lights and garlands. I did a few ornaments, but he even did the bulk of that. The kids were all jumping out of their skin with excitement, but that wore off rather quickly, and they drifted in and out throughout the process. When they are older we can offload the entire process to them, but for now, we really have to handle the majority of it.
One of the best things about Christmas is remembering where all the ornaments came from, and thinking about where I was living when I got them, and all that good stuff. I would never take photo-prints of my different ornaments -- it just seems silly -- but somehow, this seems like a perfectly fitting topic for a blog entry. Here are my favorite ornaments:
These are three of my absolute favorites. The large ornate globe is one of a set of 6; three are blue, three are red. I ordered them from Smithsonian over 10 years ago, and I consider them precious. They are hand-blown glass, from Poland, and I just love the style of them.
The silver bell is one of a set of six bells I got just a few years ago from Crate & Barrel; they're still selling them this year, and for the same price! When I was a kid, we had little porcelain bells on our Christmas tree, and I loved them. These bells are just a little bit bigger, and a lot more durable, but they have a similar beautiful tone to those bells I remember as a little girl. I think every Christmas tree should have bells.
The third ornament, the pink-striped glass bulb, is a survivor from my very first Christmas as an independent person, post-divorce. I bought a tiny live Christmas tree and two sets of these tiny glass ornaments. They are clear glass with different colored paint in different patterns. Originally I had 2 dozen but many have been broken over the years. The cat is particularly fond of these. I remember back in South Natick when we had real Christmas trees every year, she would climb out into the tree and bat these ones down, then hoard them under the radiator: they make excellent hockey pucks. As they have aged they have become more fragile, so we keep them up pretty high on the tree now.
I think this is a lovely design, 2 parents and 3 children, but I have to admit I can't remember who gave it to us! Anyway, it's beautiful:
This little choir boy was a gift from my middle sister many years ago (10?). I love his expression, and I always nestle him among the branches so he is nice and cozy:
This little blue star with white snowflakes was a gift from Big's parents; they brought it home from Germany for me, the Christmas right after we broke up (which happened in November.) That was a rough Christmas for all of us, but I think this is a completely charming ornament, and I always remember fondly the time I spent with Big's family... and a lot of the times I spent with him, too.
Both of these ornaments were gifts from my former roommate, K. The last I heard from her, she was living in Chicago and working as an architect. If I were not so lazy I would try for a shot with better lighting, because the detail is washed out in the little guy. The little tin man is actually jointed; his arms and legs move, and he's totally adorable. The tiny clothespin has the cutest little drum major... I'm always careful to clip him to a branch tip so he'll be straight and presentable!
This little wooden rocking horse was a gift from the secretary of the CEO of the small software/consulting firm I worked for many years ago. She was a German immigrant, and undoubtedly the oldest person in the company. We were a rather frisky start-up, and M was old enough to be mother to most of us. We often had the impression she disapproved of our silliness -- in retrospect, she was probably right, but we did put out a good product for the time. I can't remember how long she worked for the CEO (who was prone to showing off his gymnastics prowess by doing things like handstands on his desk), but for the time she was there, she was rather indulgent of us. She gave everyone home-baked cookies and attached a little ornament to each as decoration, and I've kept it all these years. This is probably one of my oldest ornaments, now that I think of it -- I've probably had this since 1987 or 1988!
This one was a gift to DH in 2001, the year the DiamondBacks won the World Series. He and I were fortunate enough to be there at Game 7 (and DS2 was along for the ride in his baby-carrier, poor little guy was freaked out by all the noise and lights and people, and was very happy to stay snuggled on my chest the entire time!)... that 9th inning is something I will always remember.
This was a gift from my best friend from college (and years afterwards), L. She is of Russian descent and brought this back from Russia for me when she went one summer on a family-reunion style trip. I often wonder what became of her, but as our friendship became rather toxic, I'm just letting that go.
This Santa ornament is one of the nicer ones I've seen. He has a kindly expression on his face which does not come through very well in this shot. He was a gift from a former friend and colleague; she and her husband were instrumental in moving DH and I from Massachusetts out to Arizona. We had some philosophical differences but got along well until I became pregnant with DS1. She and her husband had been trying for a baby for several years, and were going through IVF. That was another relationship that just took a weird turn and died. She happened to call me the day I was in the hospital delivering DS1; I had DH return the call to tell her the news (I was exhausted from having my first baby, and talking to everyone in my family.) I literally never heard from heard again. Perhaps she was waiting for me to call her? I have no idea, but at that point it was just as easy to let it go.
This shot isn't of anything in particular, but it is rather representative of the mix of stuff you find on our tree: lovely hand-blown ornaments, Beanie Baby ornaments, pine cones with glitter from various years of pre-school, and a few others, all hodge-podge'd around each other. Martha Stewart and her followers are probably shocked and dismayed at such a jumble, but I tend to agree with DD: "This tree is beautiful from top to bottom. It's the most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever seen." Funny how every year I seem to feel the same way.
Last, here are a couple of meaningful ornaments. First is the "ornament bug" from the Jingle Bugs book. DS2 got the book last year for Christmas, but for some reason the bug never made it onto the tree. We've been reading it all year and every time, we have to take the bug out, and say, "At Christmas-time, we'll put him on the tree." So we finally did it!
In the background, you can see a red and silver ornament that my mom gave me; it's one of her old ones. "They don't make 'em like they used to," is no joke. It's pretty but still sturdy. I like both the shape and colors of it, and I love having a piece of my family's history up there.
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