5 years ago, Mr. Boss and I experienced our first Christmas as a married couple. I say "experienced" and not "celebrated" because I was the only one celebrating.
It's not really a secret that Mr. Boss does not like Christmas. In fact, he detests the entire month of December. Including his birthday, which happened to be today.
Anyway, for that Christmas 5 years ago, I bought myself a tree. For $25 (an extremely good deal) I bought a pre-lit, 6' tree. It was perfect and I was in love. And every year since then, usually on the day after Thanksgiving, I would set up and decorate that wonderful tree.
I think it was a Christmas miracle in itself, that I never had a problem with the lights.... and that Mr. Boss never followed through on his threats to take it out front, to destroy it, when it didn't come down on December 26th. ;)
Little did I know, as I was setting it up last year, that it would be the last time I would do so. I didn't realize that, in a few short months, I would be willing to part with the tree that had been so good to me. But it happened.
As we were preparing for our move to Denver, we kept on feeling like we needed to down-size. We didn't know how much space we would have in our future residence, and we felt like it would be best if we either got rid of (donated), or left behind (in storage) some of our things.
In retrospect, as I am missing that tree, I wish that I had just put it in to storage. But what I did instead was the thing that I felt needed to be done at the time. Before committing, I consulted my darling, Mr. Boss.
"Hey.... If I donate this tree to the DI, can we... can we get a real tree next year?"
I could see the mental war going on in his head. Which was better? The fake tree that he never had to touch, or the real tree that he would end up tying to the roof of our vehicle?
"I will agree, on two conditions," he started. "First, we have to wait until the very last minute. Second, we have to get the most puny and pathetic 'Charlie Brown' tree."
Then came the war inside of my head. Is it worth it to get rid of this wonderful convenience, just so that I can have the smell of fresh pine that will accompany a future, pathetic tree?
Well, I made the hard choice and, soon after, said farewell to my old tree.
And then we mostly forgot about it. Until all things Christmas started popping up at our local retail establishments. That was when I began wondering what "waiting until the very last minute" would mean.
Once we turned the calendar to December I scanned through and decided that the 19th seemed late enough for him, yet would still give me a few days before Christmas to enjoy it. But, when I asked, Mr. Boss turned me down. He wanted to wait until Christmas Eve! (I was pretty sure I would die, and then give up hope, if I had to wait until then.)
Not long after making the request for a tree, and then being turned down, I felt like getting a tree was hopeless, and all but gave up on the idea.
So... You can maybe, at this point, imagine my surprise when Mr. Boss says to me, just this afternoon, "If you get this living room in order, we can go and get a tree. ..Today."
Well, I flew from my spot on the couch, like it had suddenly caught fire, and got to work. Daylight was beginning to fade as I hurried through my work. I was making progress, but I was worried it wouldn't be "enough," or that I'd run out of time/daylight, and Mr. Boss would make me wait a little longer. But before I'd even vacuumed he was telling the children to find and put on their shoes! At that point I grabbed the vacuum and quickly passed it over the floor, and then got my own shoes.
...Do you think I should point out to my dear Mr. Boss that it was kind of ironic for him to buy me a Christmas tree on his birthday...?
It's not really a secret that Mr. Boss does not like Christmas. In fact, he detests the entire month of December. Including his birthday, which happened to be today.
Anyway, for that Christmas 5 years ago, I bought myself a tree. For $25 (an extremely good deal) I bought a pre-lit, 6' tree. It was perfect and I was in love. And every year since then, usually on the day after Thanksgiving, I would set up and decorate that wonderful tree.
I think it was a Christmas miracle in itself, that I never had a problem with the lights.... and that Mr. Boss never followed through on his threats to take it out front, to destroy it, when it didn't come down on December 26th. ;)
Little did I know, as I was setting it up last year, that it would be the last time I would do so. I didn't realize that, in a few short months, I would be willing to part with the tree that had been so good to me. But it happened.
As we were preparing for our move to Denver, we kept on feeling like we needed to down-size. We didn't know how much space we would have in our future residence, and we felt like it would be best if we either got rid of (donated), or left behind (in storage) some of our things.In retrospect, as I am missing that tree, I wish that I had just put it in to storage. But what I did instead was the thing that I felt needed to be done at the time. Before committing, I consulted my darling, Mr. Boss.
"Hey.... If I donate this tree to the DI, can we... can we get a real tree next year?"
I could see the mental war going on in his head. Which was better? The fake tree that he never had to touch, or the real tree that he would end up tying to the roof of our vehicle?
"I will agree, on two conditions," he started. "First, we have to wait until the very last minute. Second, we have to get the most puny and pathetic 'Charlie Brown' tree."
Then came the war inside of my head. Is it worth it to get rid of this wonderful convenience, just so that I can have the smell of fresh pine that will accompany a future, pathetic tree?
Well, I made the hard choice and, soon after, said farewell to my old tree.
And then we mostly forgot about it. Until all things Christmas started popping up at our local retail establishments. That was when I began wondering what "waiting until the very last minute" would mean.
Once we turned the calendar to December I scanned through and decided that the 19th seemed late enough for him, yet would still give me a few days before Christmas to enjoy it. But, when I asked, Mr. Boss turned me down. He wanted to wait until Christmas Eve! (I was pretty sure I would die, and then give up hope, if I had to wait until then.)
Not long after making the request for a tree, and then being turned down, I felt like getting a tree was hopeless, and all but gave up on the idea.
So... You can maybe, at this point, imagine my surprise when Mr. Boss says to me, just this afternoon, "If you get this living room in order, we can go and get a tree. ..Today."Well, I flew from my spot on the couch, like it had suddenly caught fire, and got to work. Daylight was beginning to fade as I hurried through my work. I was making progress, but I was worried it wouldn't be "enough," or that I'd run out of time/daylight, and Mr. Boss would make me wait a little longer. But before I'd even vacuumed he was telling the children to find and put on their shoes! At that point I grabbed the vacuum and quickly passed it over the floor, and then got my own shoes.
I want you to know that I found the. perfect. tree. at the tree lot. But that dumb salesman ruined everything when he mentioned the much-less-expensive, "Charlie Brown trees". And then C, he didn't help one bit. E agreed with me on my choice of tree, but C was romanced by the idea of having his very-own, in-real-life, "Charlie Brown" tree, just like he'd seen in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie that we just returned to the library.
But a tree is a tree, and now, I've got one!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!...Do you think I should point out to my dear Mr. Boss that it was kind of ironic for him to buy me a Christmas tree on his birthday...?
4 comments:
oh my goodness, i love it! it is a christmas miracle -- and seriously so funny that it was his birthday too :) merry christmas!!
I love your tree!
My husband home taught a family in our ward yesterday who had the most crooked, gangly, snarly looking tree (which they had hiked up to the MOUNTAINS to cut down... seriously, out of all the trees in the mountains they made sure to pick the ugliest one they could find ;) )
Their conversation went something like this:
My husband, without really looking at the tree, "You guys have a nice... wait a minute... you're tree looks a little... crooked..."
The mom of the family, looking blankly around and at her family, "Man, there must be something wrong with our tree! Everyone keeps telling us it is crooked!" (as if they couldn't understand why people thought their tree was crooked).
Ha ha. That was when they told my husband how they had gone to the mountains as a family and picked out this tree very specifically.
Their tree makes yours look like one from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine or something. :)
I think your tree is beautiful, and it reminds me of our first tree. (although we kind of waited last minute this year and ended up with a beautiful Grand Fir for $15 - Score!)
Glad you got your tree :)
Is it so lame that this totally made me choke up a bit?! I'm so glad you got a real tree this year!!!
I love your Charlie Brown tree. It's quite perfect. Did you know my husband shares a birthday with your husband? Happy Birthday husband grinch's!
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