This Christmas

I wanted to write this now, while the feelings are fresh and the excitement is at its peak, despite the very late hour, one I should not be awake to see, let alone be blogging in. We have a Christmas tree! A big one, one that I have saved in storage for two years and looked forward to bringing out and displaying in its full glory . . . someday.

Well that day is here!!

But first, a little background:

I bought this tree two years ago on sale after Christmas at a grocery store during vacation in California after MUCH deliberation. (My family STILL teases me about it. They tease me about most of my shopping eccentricities/purchase anxieties, but that's another story.) I LOVE Christmas and have never gone a year without decorating to celebrate it, even in a hotel room. It's that important to me. Needless to say I have been bubbling over with excitement at the thought of putting up this tree, this beautiful 7-foot, 500 white-bulbed, pre-lit tree to finally replace the sweet but very scanty 6 footer we bought our first year. So first thing back from Thanksgiving on Monday morning, I set the beauty up and it looked something like this.

Hmmm . . . those are not white lights like the picture on the box. Those are colored, aren't they? And I'm pretty sure there's no returning this one two years later. Hmm. But otherwise, I LOVE IT and I couldn't be happier at the steal it was 2 years ago. Good on me for buying it and worth the wait!

But I couldn't get over those lights. So, after calling an associate at GE for advice, (yes, I actually called them) I decided to buy new white lights and re-string it, then very quickly learn that will be nigh unto impossible, and decide I'll just replace the bulbs. All 500. One by one. I really wanted white lights on my tree.

And replace them I do. I spend most of my evening last night working on it, and about 3.5 or so hours in, it looks about like this. Already such an improvement. Look how much brighter the tree is with those white lights!

One book of the Hunger Games (which, to be fair, we'd started on our drive home from AZ) and 3/4 of the movie Home Alone later, I have the tree completely re-bulbed with the white lights in all its lovely splendor. Isn't it magnificent? All those lights.

Two or three Christmases ago we'd experimented with blue Christmas ornaments to match our front room, which were very nice, but I really missed the red and green. I got very traditional this year and really wanted this tree to speak to the meaning of Christmas and its importance, right down to the red and green and gold (cause gold is richer than silver, and in this instance, I found that to be significant.)

And so we've done it . . .

Sprinkled bits of red and green . . .

all over the house . . .

But my favorite part of all . . .

is this wonderful tree!

Even after I write this, I may stay up a little while longer just to look at it and sing to myself "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" like I always do when the tree is lit up. I've got more reason than usual to be sentimental, and I guess I'm not gonna be doing much apologizing for it. Last year we were in a hotel, and this year, we have a beautiful apartment, two good jobs, and a little one on the way. I am overwhelmed to think about it. This is a very, very special Christmas. I figure the least I can do is make a point of celebrating the birthday of the Little One whom I love with all my heart and who has done so very much for me. Merry, merry, MERRRRY Christmas!