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02 December 2008

Wonder of December 2

Roger and I went out on errands Monday afternoon which included stops at Garden Ridge, Target and Michael's. I gave all of the Christmas decor and tree ornaments to Kelli last Christmas as we were down there for Christmas and didn't put up a tree. I decided this year that it was time that Roger and I had our own decorations as I had been using the decorations I left my former marriage with(and most of those were ones that the kids had made over the years and ones I had bought them every year to take to their future homes when they were grown).

When I went to the Dr. this morning for more labs, they had put up the Christmas tree in the waiting room and I.loved.it. They had a gold star made of wire at the top and then under that was one of those big bows with the streamers that cascaded down the tree.

After I got done working, I went online and saw that Target had the star so we stopped there to get it and they were out of the gold, but had a silver one and our tree was born. I bought red and silver ornaments(stars, balls, snowflakes, angels and jingle bells) and went to Michael's and had a red bow with silver stars made for the tree. We are putting up our tree Saturday and I can't wait! With white lights and red and silver bead garland, it will be perfect for us.

Christmas Memory #2
I had a ringside seat on the couch every year watching spellbound as my mom and dad put up our Christmas tree. Mom had ornaments that she had as a little girl and after Dad would put on the lights(no little twinkle lights...these were large bulbs of bright blue, brilliant red, dark green, sunny gold, pumpkin orange and white that clipped on the branches as well as "bubble lights" that had liquid that would flow through them and bubble up like a candle) and then Mom would sculpt the tree. There is no other word for it that sculpt. Every ornament had to be placed just so-so...she would place it, step back, study it and if it passed inspection, she would go to the next one. Some of the ornaments were so heavy they felt like weights. My favorite were the ones that were round colored glass and had an indented place in the front that was a different color. It just begged to have you poke your finger inside the indented area but it would have shattered and Mom kept watch on the tree so such things would not happen. After a couple of hours of placing ornaments, the tinsel decorating would begin. She would open the package, separate the shiny silver tinsel into strands and place each strand on the tree. Every year I would fall asleep on the couch watching her place the tinsel. The next morning when I woke up, she would plug in the tree and I would run in and just stare at it. At night I would lay in the floor under the tree and stare up into the branches mesmerized by the magic of it. I felt so safe and warm with Dad in his rocker and Mom on the end of the sectional couch with Christmas records on the stereo.

9 comments:

Laura ~Peach~ said...

what sweet memories! I can't wait to see your tree I do believe it will be just fantastic! we are debating on the tree here... our tree and all decorations that go with it are BURRIED in the back of the shed and to get them out will be an all day JOB!
I do have some little trees that martha Stephanie and I made a couple years back I might talk them into letting me pust put one of those out.... But I dont know if the biggest kid will let me out of the traditions or not.
I will never forget the year mother bought the spray on snow... ACK it was horrid!

Steph said...

Ness,

I love your Christmas Memories. I did a Thanksgiving memory on my blog last night. It is fun to read about family traditions that others share.

Mom and I are still decorating the house. We put up a ton of stuff each year.

kimmy said...

Your memories are so precious Ness!

Kimmy

melanie, aka Mo said...

Cannot believe you have SNOW! Did you see the sleeveless outfits we wore on Thursday?! there is no TEAMJAKE central. The whole city is crowded and very busy. There are 10s of 1000s of runners and their whole entourage. My cell is 318 3767676. Just call me, I KNOW we always stand at the corner of the big church downtown when the marathon starts and then down by LeBonheur Children's Hospital later in the race. You definitely need to find us, as most roads are blocked, and we are old pros! Let me know if you are coming. I know someone who has a room available if you want to get it. Need to know ASAP or she needs to let it go. It is for Friday and Saturday nights. Melanie

Alice said...

Your memory today warmed my heart. Sounds so much like my mom. I love her tree every year. And Christmas is just the most magical time, isn't it??

Mary Ellen said...

That really brought back memories of my childhood - we always had that silver tinsel, and my mother insisted it be put on one strand at a time, while my father wanted to just kind of throw it at the tree in chunks.

I had to give up the tinsel at home because the cats liked to eat it, but I still remember.

Thanks for bringing it back.

Michelle said...

That is a nice memory. I don't have too many from my child crhistmas's. I do remember we had one of thos aluminum trees with the color wheel. When you took the branches out of their sleeve they made a swoosh sound. You knew it was christmas time by that sound. I miss that sound. I hope that Shay has many memories. I will have to get her to post about them.

Tracy said...

Ness-
Love the new look for Christmas!
I haven't been able to even let my self think about the decorating deal-we are busting at the seams in our current living situation-so putting up a tree means major moving around furniture and STUFF!I did enjoy your Christmas memory and look forward to reading more of them.
Love ya
Tracy

Debbie said...

Nice memories Ness. I can't remember much of my childhood Christmas's, so thanks for sharing yours.

David and I put up a little 4 foot tree. Its pretty and I love it. We are putting it up later today.

God Bless~
Debbie