I've always thought that the words to that Carpenter's song "Merry Christmas, Darling," were a little weird, particularly the line "logs on the fire fill me with desire." What's that supposed to mean? Desire for what? And how can logs on the fire possibly put you in a romantic mood? I'm not quite sure. But I think my husband has created some meaning for that line because of our recent Christmas tree experience.
We were very fortunate this year to receive a free fresh Christmas tree through a FedEx program on base called Trees for Troops. My husband was one of the first to receive a tree, and so, of course, he thought, the bigger the better. Well, turns out bigger isn't always better. The tree was too tall for our house, and the trunk was too big for our tree base. And the only tool we own to make the tree smaller length and diameter-wise is a hack saw. After hours of chopping away, we got the top of the tree shortened, but the trunk still did not fit the base. Joe gave up temporarily. Yesterday, I borrowed a real saw from a friend, and we got the tree to fit in the base last night. However, our puny stand could not handle the girth of this tree; it simply weighed too much. I was begging Joe to get a new stand, but he wouldn't. Again, he was ready to throw in the towel. He said we should just buy a fake tree. Here is where "Logs on the Fire" fits in. Joe would literally been ecstatic to see the logs from this tree on a fire. Do you think that was what Karen Carpenter was referring to? Maybe.
Anyway, I was . . . quite frustrated. I love real trees. Fake trees break the Christmas spirit for me. So, to appease his tightly wound wife, Joe came up with a different solution: anchor the tree to the wall. We got the tree in the stand, it was just a matter of it staying up. The anchor was the solution. Then, we finally got the thing decorated. We kept our kids up until 9 last night because of all of the tree fanangling. But they were SO excited to decorate it. It's a beautiful tree, even if the majority of ornaments are in one small bottom portion of the tree. That's what happens when you give your kids unlimited decorating power.
We were very fortunate this year to receive a free fresh Christmas tree through a FedEx program on base called Trees for Troops. My husband was one of the first to receive a tree, and so, of course, he thought, the bigger the better. Well, turns out bigger isn't always better. The tree was too tall for our house, and the trunk was too big for our tree base. And the only tool we own to make the tree smaller length and diameter-wise is a hack saw. After hours of chopping away, we got the top of the tree shortened, but the trunk still did not fit the base. Joe gave up temporarily. Yesterday, I borrowed a real saw from a friend, and we got the tree to fit in the base last night. However, our puny stand could not handle the girth of this tree; it simply weighed too much. I was begging Joe to get a new stand, but he wouldn't. Again, he was ready to throw in the towel. He said we should just buy a fake tree. Here is where "Logs on the Fire" fits in. Joe would literally been ecstatic to see the logs from this tree on a fire. Do you think that was what Karen Carpenter was referring to? Maybe.
Anyway, I was . . . quite frustrated. I love real trees. Fake trees break the Christmas spirit for me. So, to appease his tightly wound wife, Joe came up with a different solution: anchor the tree to the wall. We got the tree in the stand, it was just a matter of it staying up. The anchor was the solution. Then, we finally got the thing decorated. We kept our kids up until 9 last night because of all of the tree fanangling. But they were SO excited to decorate it. It's a beautiful tree, even if the majority of ornaments are in one small bottom portion of the tree. That's what happens when you give your kids unlimited decorating power.
This is the tree before we got it anchored to the wall:
Joe in the process of anchoring. He's trying to look happy. By the way, this is the clothing I see him in most of the time, but for some of you, it may be the first time you see Joe in military gear:
Finished! The kids love it.
Oh, and this past weekend, we went to a Christmas party on base. Santa gave them REAL presents, like Littlest Pet Shop and a game. And Joe won a $25 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm telling you, the perks of military life are quite outstanding. Here's the kids with Santa:
5 comments:
Your tree is absolutely gorgeous! I'm so impressed! (And I'm no stranger to having to anchor a tree to a wall. Maybe that's why we gave up years ago and just use a small artificial tree!) Your house looks very festive. Love the picture of Dottie and Elliot with Santa. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I hope your Christmas box from us has arrived by now.
The kids look so cute! Real trees are the best. You just can't beat that Christmas smell. Also, I think about how weird those lyrics are every time I hear that song (so a couple times a day since our Christmas station has a play list of about 5 songs)
The visit to Santa brings back the memory of one of Dottie's previous visits (in the Christmas village in CO)-
Santa: What would you like for Christmas?
Dottie: I'm going to be a witch!
ah ha ha ha ha...oh to be a fly on the wall! The tree IS beautiful and I completely agree with the real tree loyalty.
as a kid we had a tape with 'rocking around the christmas tree'. however, our particular version didn't sound like rocking. it sounded A LOT more like the f-word. we had no idea what it meant, but we knew it was naughty and would rewind it over and over again in our bedrooms so my parent's wouldn't discover the offending tape. good memories.
Love your tree and decorations! And Joe is very handsome in his uniform. Miss you and the little angels!
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