Note about the Soundtrack: It is provided by Chris tonight. Yes, he’s totally guilty of the above, but he redeems himself quite nicely in the end. ♥ (And, if you aren't listening to the soundtracks, you're missing out big time!)
This holiday season, I have been dragging my feet. Black Friday came and went; and I still haven’t done a bit of shopping. Today, our Christmas tree had been up for four days, and I still hadn’t even bothered to put the lights on.
Well, I don’t know if I was really dragging my feet or if it was that I needed someone to drag me into the holiday season. That happened today. Someone snuck into my house, stole my “blah-blah-hohumbug,” and left “fa-la-la” behind instead.
Who was the culprit? Colonel Mustard? Professor Plum? Miss Peacock? No! It was Isabelle in the living room with stuffed animals.
When I entered the living room this morning to water the tree, I saw that she had perched five Beanie Babies in the branches of the tree. She was desperate to decorate, and I then realized that it was time to “fa-la-la,” if only for Iz.
I wondered most of the morning why I wasn’t into Christmas this year. I certainly had more time to celebrate it; this time last year, I was working full-time and probably wishing I had no job in order to enjoy the season. (Be careful what you wish for!) So, why was I not into Christmas this year?
Was it because…
I was unemployed?
Winter weather had set in?
There was no more cycling on the rail trail until April?
I had watched every episode of Law & Order ever made?
Or was it…
All of the above.
Today, I decided that I really needed to get the lights on the tree. When growing up, my Dad always did the lights. We had to wait for my Dad to “do the lights” until we could decorate the tree. I’m sure my Mom could do the lights, but my Dad HAD to do them.
And, he did a great job; they were always perfectly strung. After he put them on, he sat back in a chair, had a martini, and then watched us all decorate his perfectly-strung Xmas tree. After all, he had done the hard part. Really, lights are the hardest part!
I think I had been somewhat avoiding the lights, because our tree was a Blue Spruce. I don’t know how familiar you are with trees. The Blue Spruce is a beautiful tree; however, its needles pierce like knives when you least expect them to. Yes, it's definitely a Black Widow tree!
I guess I could avoid that problem by having an “artificial” tree, which is less messy and a very "green" thing to do; however, somehow, I’ve never been able to go that route. Two years ago, my house was undergoing major renovations. On the first floor, I was down to one room, the living room. That year, I opted to buy a real tree, a small Blue Spruce.
Iz loved it. We decorated it, watered it, and then after Xmas, we kept it in the basement until Spring. I then planted it in the backyard, and there it still lives.
This year, I would have liked another small real tree; however, I was out voted. So, at 2pm this afternoon, I put on the lights. It was no small feat. Again, ever felt a dagger in your body? Yeah, well, that’s kind of what the needle of the Blue Spruce feels like. Seriously, if I drank a glass of water now after putting up thoses lights, I’d look like a fountain! All said and done, I got the lights on.
When I went to pick Iz up, I told her I had put the lights on. She squealed with delight. I told her we could go have dinner at either one of her favorite places for dinner (the pub or the greasy spoon) or go home, decorate the tree, and have spaghetti. She chose the tree and spaghetti!
Earlier in the day, I sensed that tree decorating might be like my cookie-decorating experiences past. I’d spend an hour making dough, and the child in question would want to make cookies for two minutes and then ask to go watch TV. But, Iz was a tree-decorating trooper. Every ornament we own is on that tree now!
I came across my favorite ornament when we were decorating. It’s a cat, dressed as a mother, holding an infant. My mother gave it to me shortly after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I was diagnosed pregnant with Nathan. On the outside of the box, it said, “A Mother’s Love is Forever.”
Just after placing it on the tree tonight, Iz began chattering away about some ornament she picked up. Suddenly, she did a pre-sneeze convulse. While preparing her body for the BIG ONE, she continued to talk. That’s my girl!
And when her body expelled the huge sneeze inside her, she continued to talk, well, more like sneeze-talk, “Aaahhhh…Christmas….chooooo….tree!” Then she said to me, “Mom, I sneezed and said Christmas tree at the same time. How cool was that?!”
I realized then, and yet again, how much I loved my daughter. In that moment, she totally brought me into Christmas, making me realize that a mother’s love is forever. Always believe no matter how down you are, and Santa is bringing me a new job. ♥
Finally, it would not be a blog if I didn’t say…
Things to Do with Your Dog When You’re Unemployed and it’s Xmas
Iz’s school has a holiday shop, and this is Monty’s Xmas present from Iz; and I used the term “present” loosely!
What can I say? Like mother, like daughter. And, does Monty not look like Max the dog from “The Grinch Who Stole Xmas” or what?!
And, not to be outdone, um, like daughter, like mother!
I’m sure you were wondering what the cats were doing during all of this, right?
Well, Liam was boning up on rocket science.
And, Thunderbolt was making sure there were no terrorists lurking under Nathan’s bed.
End Blog Soundtrack Because We Must Make Up for (in a BIG way) the Beginning Dylan Xmas Tune:
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