Another Christmas finished in the Williams Household. The weeks leading up to the big day was full of picking the tree off the floor and cleaning up broken ornaments. One morning I got up and discovered the tree on the floor. As I stared at the broken pieces I felt an overwhelming desire to toss it all out the door.
Instead, I left it on the ground and got the kids ready for school. Once they were in school I tackled the mess. I had some moments of tears as I picked up broken pieces of my tree topper. It was a limited edition Waterford made to look like Christmas past. I cannot get another and I admit I just loved the look of it. It made me think of the 30's and 40's tree toppers. It invoked memories of my grandma.
Also lost was the Northwood University ornament. The lovely blue ornament in the pic above. My brother gave it to me and there are so many special memories wrapped into that one ornament. Among the broken bits were Polish ornaments, another Waterford special edition, and ornaments we had just bought. My 'Nicole' ornament, that lived on my mother's tree for 3 decades, also met its end.
I cleaned up the mess, took apart the tree and waited for Mark to come home from the road. I put the tree back up, tied to the window this time, and decorated it for the second time. A few hours later the damn thing fell over. This time it fell toward the window. Nothing was broken, but it was clear that the tree was not going to remain upright. Once again, the ornaments came off and the tree was sent on its way. We bought a tree at Walgreen's for $30. Ornaments put on...for the third time.
Our plan for next Christmas is to buy a better made tree. One with a metal stand. It'll cost more so money is being saved. Still, I do not want another year of smashed memories.
Christmas arrived and poor Irene spent 12 hours of the day throwing up. She managed to get up and open gifts. After, she was back on the couch sleeping. She didn't play with anything until after dinner.
Mark and I made a Christmas brunch. We had coffee from Madagascar that I had given to Mark. If you have ever seen the show
Dangerous Grounds you'll know the coffee. The rest of our day was spent relaxing and playing and watching movies.
Poor Irene spent the rest of the week with a fever although, thankfully, the throwing up stopped.
The rest of the week was spent having lazy days. Mark was off for the week and we just relaxed.
The new tree and the new tree topper. Below is a pic of some of our decorations.
The kids had two weeks off from school. It was a nice break from the hectic mornings. Of course, the adjustment back into school was a little rough. Another holiday season is finished and I am looking forward to spring.
4 comments:
How on earth, did your tree keep falling over? Were the kids messing with it? How sad that your ornaments were destroyed. We had that happen to us a few years back, minus the tree falling.
We lost an entire Christmas Eve, Christmas day and then some about 5 years ago due to a horrifying stomach bug that hit ALL OF US. It was the first Christmas my parents came to visit and they couldn't even come to our home because of how sick everyone was. We couldn't even open presents until almost a week later. Every year I get paranoid that it will happen again. I even made myself ill this year with worry.
Arley!
How horrible to have everyone so sick at Christmas! I would be worried about having that happen again.
The tree was a cheap one that we bought last year when money was super tight. I think the stand was just so flimsy. It fell down onto me the day after Christmas last year. I think that bent the stand enough to make it unstable this year. We are definitely getting a better tree for this next Christmas!
OUCH, that had to hurt! Why don't you guys just get a real tree, it's cheaper and you can just throw it out after Christmas!
I have some crazy allergies. Having a real tree in the house has me coughing, sneezing and breaking out in hives. Once we get settled with a new tree we'll be set until new lights are needed. Basically, the cost is about the same as buying a new real tree every year.
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