Our First Tree

I HATE errands.  There are so many other things I would rather be doing on my precious Saturday off then run around to place after place dropping off money getting the car washed, buying groceries, or picking up this or that.  I start out with my list of places to go and it's not uncommon for me to chop of the last stop or two and just get the hell home.  Saturday was different because Mj came along.  Running errands with him is actually fun because we are spending time together.  He sort of got stuck with me for the whole day because his morning flag football game and evening poker game got canceled.  "Sorry baby," I said but inside I was happy that I'd get him all to myself for the whole day.

blank canvas

add lights

The only thing worse then errands is errands on an empty stomach so our first stop was out to breakfast.  Then we headed to Walmart and got ornaments.  At Pier One we got some more goodies for the house then Cost Plus World Market where I spotted an adorable bench that would be perfect for our hallway entry.  Then it was off to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  I decided to chop JC Penny's off and get onto the stop we'd been waiting for all day.  Christmas tree shopping!  There was a bit of a debate over size.  I wanted to get a smaller one but Mj insisted it at least be taller then him.  No Charlie Brown Christmas tree for him.  It just seemed so darn huge.  I've never had space for a tree at all let alone one this size so what do I know?  After getting it into the house I could see that he was right and I love it.

I played Christmas songs and with a glass of wine nearby had a lot of fun decorating it.  Mj did the lights and I put on the rest of the bulbs while he started dinner.  Mj already had the lights and all the non edible ornaments are from Walmart and Big Lots costing us a grand total of $19 bucks.  I love using real candy canes.  It's like having a candy tree in my own house but since those candy canes don't actually grow I'll probably be buying more to replenish the supply since I plan to eat them right off the tree whenever I want.

Add ornaments...and there you have it.  Our pretty tree

 I've lived on my own for eleven years and this is the first time I have ever had a tree!!  For mostly the same reasons I'd never had a party.  The studio was too small.  My former apartments were pretty small too not to mention drab.  I just didn't care .  Bah Humbug!  But times have changed.  I have a house and a great husband that makes me want to do things I was too miserable to care about before.  I received some Christmas ornaments here and there over the years as gifts.  It looked everywhere for them but I couldn't find them.  They may show up some day but I suspect I may have gotten rid of them.  I probably figured that I would never be happy enough to want a tree.  I'm so grateful that life is different now.  Real trees can get messy but it's worth it just to have that wonderful pine smell in our house.  It smells like Christmas.