Sunday, December 02, 2007

Oh, Christmas Tree

We finally got around to putting up or Christmas tree today. This year, we decided to put the tree in the living room instead of the family room, as we usually do. No reason for the change. I just wanted to do something different.


The hardest part of the job was remembering where we had stored the decorations when we dismantled them last year. The ornaments were under the guest room bed. The outdoor lights were in the downstairs closet. And the indoor lights were in the garage. Backwards, yes, but we eventually found them.

Most of our ornaments consist of craft projects the boys made at school, items received from past family ornament exchanges, and cast-offs from Q's mom, my mom, and my grandma. But this year, I treated myself to a few new ones. I won a Pier 1 gift card in a raffle back in May, and it had been languishing in my wallet since. Today, I finally used it.

I went with a gold theme on the tree this year. I would have liked to do pink, but that would just make the tree too girlie. Besides, pink doesn't match the rest of the room.

I'm hoping put some Fiesta ornaments on next year's tree. I'd love a holiday lights ornament, but the stores that sell it don't have locations in the Phoenix area.


We also did some decorating on the front of the house. We kept it simple because Q's ladder won't reach the eaves on the second floor. We had also decorated the yard in the past, but decided against it this year. We get so much wind around here that yard ornaments tend to fall over or blow out of the ground. Unless they're deeply staked to the ground, inflatable snow globes and cactus do not mix.

We have a lighted reindeer, but he never stays where we stake him. And there's nothing sadder than having to pull Rudolph out of the gutter at 6:30 in the morning.

8 comments:

Waldo's Home said...

Val, Your tree looks beautiful, especially with your new flooring. Actually, they weren't really castoffs; they were actually Q's from his childhood. I sorted out the kids' ornaments and gave them to them when they married. So they were just his to do whatever you two decided to with them.

Ms. Val said...

Thank you, Pat. I'm pretty proud of the tree.

And I you're right. Now that I think about it, the ornaments you gave us were Q's from before.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with cast-offs. Some of the rooms in our house would be largely unfurnished without them.

Anonymous said...

Val,
I have some extra snow and ice here in SD! It was too cold to put up the outside docoration this weekend. With wind chill it was about 10 degrees! I'll take the rain anyday! (except on Christmas eve or Christmas day! then snow is good!)

Karla

Maria said...

that's a neat looking, beautiful christmas tree, Ms. Val!

you have a very lovely home, too!

advance happy holidays!

Anonymous said...
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kj said...

your photos lead me to some holiday spirit. but most of all i like your new avatar. two happy loving faces there!

Ms. Val said...

kj--
Funny story about that avatar. Q and I had that done from a coin operated drawing maching at Chuck E Cheese Pizza. The boys were invited to a birthday party there. Also, I believe Q was less than a week out of the hospital when we did that.

Ms. Val said...

Karla!
So nice of you to leave a comment! I appreciate it!

I'm not complaining about the weather. It's a bit chilly (low-mid 50s) in the mornings, but the days are beautiful. We haven't even turned on our furnace yet! :-)~

BTW, you don't have to comment as "anonymous" if you don't want to. Just click the box that reads "nickname" and type your name. I sometimes use it when Blogger's login gives me fits.

Maria--
Thank you and welcome back. Nice to see you around again. Enjoy the holidays and be safe!