These last few weeks haven’t exactly been plain sailing – starting with my husband’s cut face through having my wisdom teeth out to the house move that nearly wasn’t, then was to finding out at the worst possible time that I’m likely to lose my job. A bit of a Scrooge at the best of times, in the midst of all that, I was hardly likely to be feeling that festive, was I?
Oh, and did I mention half of our possessions are missing? So what were the chances of us even knowing where our Christmas tree was hiding?
When we moved into the rented house, it wasn’t even clear whether we’d still be here for Christmas. But it turned out pretty quickly that we would be.
Many of our possessions are in the garage of the house we’re buying. I haven’t been there myself, but apparently everything is wedged in and it’s impossible to find anything. On 13th December which is, in my book, a perfectly acceptable time to put your Christmas tree up, my husband located the tree in the garage. The lights were in the same box.
But where were the decorations? Not in the spare room which is piled almost to the ceiling with boxes and not in those random plastic crates in our bedroom. They could only be in that garage, no doubt propping up some very heavy wardrobe or maybe the base to our bed, which hasn’t been seen in nearly four weeks.
All we had in the house was five chocolate Santas and a green felt Christmas tree my son had made and a star he’d made out of a Coke can on Scout camp (before he scalded his finger). To be honest, the Coke can star wouldn’t go on my tree if it was the last decoration on earth. It’s made from a COKE CAN, for flip’s sake. Holidays are coming, holidays are coming…
Thank goodness for my mum, who has twice as many Christmas decorations as she needs…
But it turns out my mum’s assessment of how many decorations are needed for a tree is somewhat less than mine. It is about a third of what is actually needed. And I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, an OTT tree kind of person. We have a small, 12 year old artificial tree, which usually has enough, but not too many decorations.
I’ll be honest, I felt miserable. Even more so, when my son managed to snap the wonky top off the tree and we had to sellotape it back on, then a couple of glass decorations jumped off the tree and smashed to smithereens on the floor. They didn’t have cotton to hang them, so my kids had kind of wedged them on, which was obviously a bad idea. In the absence of any cotton to prevent further incidents, I removed the other four identical decorations.
Of course, I could buy some new ones. If we weren’t just about to get a bigger mortgage and I’m likely to lose my job. Yes, I know you can get a box of decorations for a fiver. Apparently we can’t even spend a fiver. It’s only a Christmas tree and it’s a waste and we’ll have the old decorations back next year… (The more observant among you may guess that this is not actually MY opinion.)
In short, I hate the tree.
Oh, but it’s really sparkly, because you remember the lights which were found with the tree? Turns out they were the outside lights. So it’s got sod all decorations, but it’s sure got a lot of lights.
Linking up to The Gallery at Sticky Fingers. Pop over to see some lovely photos of other people’s Christmas trees. They probably even like theirs.
December 18, 2013
Ha ha, this made me laugh (is that allowed?!). It is also a little tragic 🙁 I hate to say it but that tree really is pretty ugly….please don’t hate me! Hope you have a good Christmas regardless of all the trauma you’ve had this month x
December 18, 2013
Awww look at that tree- I love it.i think it’s going to become your most memorable tree ever xx
December 18, 2013
I think you will look back on this tree in years to come and laugh. Hope you have a good Christmas and things are on the up for you.
December 18, 2013
awwww poor xmas tree… you don’t need to buy decorations.. you could make them! The good old way )
December 18, 2013
You have done a great job on your Tree. You will be with the ones you love. I hope you have a peaceful and happy time x.
December 18, 2013
Awww – reminds me of our tree when we first married, and were camping out in part of my parents house. There are some great homemade decoration ideas on Pinterest that are cheap to make and really neat. Hope 2014 turns out to be a great year for you. Marion
December 18, 2013
I’m sure you will look back at this time and your tree with fondness and giggles in years to come. If I were you I’d leave the tree well alone as it sounds like you’ve all been experiencing your fair share of accidents and incidents lately! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a better start to 2014
December 18, 2013
I am laughing. Love your honesty. Honest, this one will stay in your memory forever!
December 18, 2013
Do you know what, who cares about the tree. It may be sparse, but at least you’ve made an effort! And what matters is that you’re all together, as a family, this Christmas. Hope you have a lovely time, despite the situation x
December 18, 2013
Oh Sarah, I’m so sorry, but this did make me laugh,especially discovering it was your outside lights. In all seriousness though, I’m sorry that your tree isn’t what you’d like – but you are going to look back on this post in a few months when you’re in your new house and laugh at your little tree. Hugs xx
December 18, 2013
Sara is so right Sarah, you will look back and laugh. It will be one of those moments when you say “do you remember when?…”. What matters is that you’re all together and you’ll have a really wonderful Christmas. You’ll be in a new house soon too – it’s exciting times xxx
December 18, 2013
Aww, this is clearly one of *those* years. At least they are few and far between! It still looks lovely though and you can’t see the sellotape from a distance!
December 18, 2013
Thanks very much, everyone. You are all most welcome to laugh! I have agreed with my husband that we are throwing it away after Christmas, there’s no point taking it with us to the new house!
It will definitely be one of ‘those years’, Helpful Mum. Unfortunately last year was too, because my husband and boys had flu. Hopefully next year in the new house will be good!
December 19, 2013
I think the minimalist approach is a great way forward. My tree ends up looking that anyway. Have a good one x
December 20, 2013
Thanks very much, Kizzy, and you! x