Friday, December 07, 2007

Up goes the tree.

Last week my roommate and I put up the Christmas tree. Granted it isn't real, but the majority of my Christmases have been spent putting up the artificial tree. In many ways, for me at least, it has become tradition. I can remember every year getting so excited after Thanksgiving because the day after was usually the day we pulled out all the Christmas decorations and put up the tree.

This year was slightly different, but memorable all the same. My roommate (who's also my best friend) never fails to make me laugh and laugh we did as we brought the tree out of storage, out of the box and "fluffed" the branches. What made this particularly festive was the Kid Rock music playing in the background. (I must add here that neither of us actually listen to Kid Rock voluntarily, rather we had a party a couple of weeks ago and made a music mix full of one hit wonders and music you haven't heard in years. It went over well at the party and Jill just happened to have her iTunes on the party playlist while we put up the tree.)

As we headbanged while fluffing the tree it occurred to us that perhaps Christmas music would be more fitting. So the Christmas music was put on and the tree was put up a little jollier and a little less violently. It's amazing how music can affect ones activities.

Here is the tree in all it's glory with the foot of fresh snow outside.It certainly doesn't get much more Christmasy than that.

There's an ornament that I have that has a bit of a story to it. A long time ago, my mom bought an ornament from Hallmark and it became a most cherished ornament. My brother and I adore this little thing. For years we talked about who would get it when mom finally decided to give us the old ornaments. When that day happened my brother conceded and let me have this ornament.Can you see why this is the best Christmas ornament in the world? Imagine yourself as a little kid looking up into the tree to see a little elf working on the light bulbs! It just doesn't get much better than that!

I think the year after I had the elf I was trying to think of a great Christmas present for my brother. A few things came to mind, but mostly I thought about wrapping up the elf and giving it to him. I knew it'd be something special that he'd love. So I did.

Would you like to guess what I received the next year?

So this little elf has been passed between my brother and I for about 5 years now. Each year we try to come up with better ways to wrap it. One year I wrapped it inside box after box after box. (I know this is wasteful but I wouldn't have done it had I suspected these boxes wouldn't be reused!)

This year I have the best plan... and it sort of just fell into my lap. I knew the elf came to me last year so when the tree went up, I went looking for it. Keep in mind I moved rather quickly midway through the year. For the life of me, I couldn't find it. In desperation I called my brother to confirm that it came to me last year. Oh yes, he said, I have it this year and he didn't sound too pleased that I didn't know the whereabouts of the elf. Well friends, I found it today... but I'm not going to let my brother know that!

9 comments:

Meike said...

Wow - I can't believe how much snow you had! I'm happy with the inch that we got here. Your tree looks wonderful & the elf ornament is fabulous!

Knittripps said...

Your elf ornament story makes me smile. I like the idea of passing the cherished ornament back and forth year after year. Cheers!

Laurie (Moo!) said...

That little elf made me smile. I can see why you love him.

Nice job with the tree fluffing. Look at it this way. You're always ready to put it up and won't have to toss it after the holidays. Very "green" of you! :-)

Katy said...

I have that elf ornament too!
When we were growing up, my sister & brother & I all loved one special Rudolph ornament, which had been my mother's when she was a little girl. Years later we grew up and moved out, and one year we all had matching gift boxes from my mom...who had searched and searched, and yard saled, until she found that same Rudolph for each of us.
In that vein--check out:
http://tinyurl.com/2vzvap
Happy Holidays!

Joy L. said...

Happy December!Glad to see the tree up, we just got ours up to! Maybe next year, we all can aim really high and knit our own ornaments? LOL

Bean said...

Yeah, that was a good day. I loved putting up the tree with you! Making memories with you is on the top of my "favourite things to do" list. That elf is so darn adorable! I still haven't actually seen him on our tree yet. I think I'm oblivious.

Cathy said...

That's a really cute tradition! I've always had fake trees for christmas. They're easier and less messy.

Anonymous said...

Love the tree, the elf - and the story behind him! My Dad and I have a fruitcake we've been passing back and forth for about 15 years now...we freeze it in between Christmases. ;o)

LisaB said...

Ooh, love the snow (and the tree!).