O Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree tonight.  The e-husband did it with us, which is a first, or at least a first in a while.  I did the lights, and arranged the ornaments and the boys put them on the tree and Mike helped and took pictures.

I have good memories of decorating the tree when I was younger.  We had a really big fake tree growing up, it was flocked.  I think I told this story already, but whatever.  My mom used to work evenings so we would all wait for her to come home to decorate the tree.  We'd decorate while mom made cookies and we listened to Christmas music.

Or at least that is how I remember it.

Last night we had on some Christmas music and I sang along while decorating, I was downright cheerful.

For those of you who don't know, my mom is a Jehovah's Witness.  We stopped celebrating Christmas in my house when I was 15.  It really made it hard for me to enjoy the holidays for a long time.  I still miss my mom's holiday bars and watching her dance around to Peggy Lee.  Ilike having a tree.  I didn't always.

After my divorce from my first husband, when I got my own place I didn't have money for a tree.  Alex was 2 and didn't really 'get' it yet.  Unxpectedly I got $100 bonus from one of the sales guys at work!!  I was shocked and went out and bought a tree that day from a tree farm at a church so it was only $15.  My best friend overnighted me a box of her older ornaments.  My first tree as a single woman had all red lights, and ornaments that were wooden, and small apple ornaments and silver balls.  It sounds weird, but it was really pretty.

I continued to use many of the ornaments BFF sent me until last year.  We mistakenly kept the ornaments on our patio, and the lid came off- and then it rained.  So last year I had a box of ornaments floating in water.  I bought all new ones, but I was sad to see some of the classics go.