Seriously? A Christmas tree?: a saga Part 2
Picture, if you will, me in Steve’s pajama bottoms, all saggy crotch and pooling fabric at the bottom, and one of his old tee shirts. All my jammies were still dirty from the hospital. No makeup. Hair- just bad. I ordered Steve into the car. I wasn’t even polite or asking anyone’s opinion. I didn’t bother to change and just threw on my coat and boots (untied and no socks) and got in the car.
We drove to the local fire department and there were two trees left, but no stands and nobody to take the money, so we hauled ass to Home Depot and got the demo tree, which somebody had to unscrew with a drill.
Do you want it wrapped?
No, I don’t want it wrapped! Just toss that shit in the mini-van.
Ornaments. I had like 5 ornaments that students had given me over the years, so Steve and I marched inside Home Depot and bought lights and a 101 piece set of Martha Stewart ornaments.
The whole thing did not feel festive enough all of sudden, so I went to town with cinnamon pine cones and balls of pine boughs with red and gold ribbons all over them and silver squiggly things you put in a vase. I can see now how people go nuts with this Christmas thing. It’s like plastic surgery. You get a little and then you can’t stop.
We were stoked to be getting home and were so queasy and tired. Then we remembered.
Stockings.
We had nothing for stockings because his parents and sister usually fill them. While I would love to receive stocking stuffers from Home Depot, not so much for the kids. What was still open and a minute away? Wal-Mart, of course.
So there we were in pajamas in Walmart, which if you have been at the right time of day you know can reveal some characters that give you pause. That was me. I was that person. Scuffing through Walmart, glassy eyed and searching wildly for stocking stuffers.
We snuck into the 10 item line with way more than that, but there was no way I was waiting an hour behind some lunatic with two cartfuls of pepsi and frozen appetizers.
The movie was ending and we booked it home to try to get the tree up in time. Just as the last pine cone went into the bowl and lights on the tree were plugged in, the kids and my mom walked in.
Oooh. They were seriously excited and I was, too. The house suddenly smelled like cinnamon and pine and the tree was glowing softly. We lay on the floor while they tore into the ornaments and hung pretty much every one on the tree. It was beautiful. We saved Christmas.
I felt a little sad, too. I’d resisted the onslaught of Christmas my whole life.
When the decorating was done, I asked Esme if she knew the story of Christmas, she said, “It’s when the oil lasted for eight days and it was only supposed to last one!” Oy. That’s my girl.
