Deck the halls

Well, it took several days longer than usual but I'm almost done putting up Christmas decorations. No, I didn't go all National Lampoon this year I just worked an hour at a time. I did wreaths, garland, and a few household Santas on Monday, Andy and I assembled the tree and put on lights Tuesday, and Emily and I put the ornaments on the tree tonight. I still need to tackle wrapping presents (that won't take long if I don't also do more shopping) and I'd like to string a few lights in the yard. It has been fun to watch Emily's reaction to each stage of the decorating since most of it has been done while she's been away.

I've never been one for theme trees. I remember one year my mom tried an all plastic- apple tree. It didn't go over well, but I suppose it was a very 80s thing to do. So, we go for the hodgepodge of ornaments collected over some 30 years of class projects, gifts from friends, purchases on vacations and at museum gift shops. Every year I seem to forget how many ornaments in my collection symbolize someone or someplace special in my life. There's an aloha Santa, a See Rock City barn, two cats, a dog, and several angels including a gift from a college friend who died the next year.

Emily was really cute putting the decorations on the tree this year. She was very careful to place each one on the tree even though I didn't tell her where to put them. When she was done, she pointed to each one, telling me which ornaments she put on the tree and which ones I had hung. I had originally planned to rearrange them when she went to bed to correct some of the assymetry, but I think I'll just enjoy it.