Day 306: O Tannenbaum

Yes.  Tonight we got our tree and set it up.  We have yet to string the lights, or hang ornaments, but it was definitely a Joyful Moment.

Two years ago, I might have fallen on our Christmas tree while instructing my mom and little sister in some yoga and it might have been irreparably broken.  I can neither confirm nor deny this statement.  But, whatever the case, we didn't have a tree last year.  We were only home for three weeks in between trips to see family for Thanksgiving and then Christmas, so it just didn't seem worth it.  (Remember, I was preggems--a.k.a. Tired & A Little Bit Lazy).  And I had this great idea to buy a new tree on clearance after Christmas.

Except that we were still visiting family after Christmas and we couldn't even fit all of our Christmas stuff back in the car to take it home again.  Leaving us tree-less yet again this year.

We debated back and forth for a while, but finally opted for a real tree and then we'll buy a super nice artificial tree as per last year's plan.  Except this year I'll actually do it because we're staying home and I'm not preggems.

And I feel pretty guilty about having a poor, real tree in my home.  It feels totally wasteful!  I have such great memories of going out into the woods and chopping down our tree of choice each year with our family and some friends.  But I don't think people thought about it as much back then.  At least I didn't.  And I kind of wanted my kids to have a similar experience.  Except our "woods" consisted of rows and rows of pre-cut trees at a local Home Depot-ish store.  Not as magical.  But the kids were still pretty excited.  And my home smells delightfully piney.  Which provides me with another Joyful Moment because it's just such a splendid scent.

Those are my consolations for my guilt.  And now I feel like I need to go apologize to our tree.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that don't require apologies!