Sparkly is the Word of the Day.

@postaday 339; #postaday2011.

I floated the idea of having our tree up for yesterday’s late Thanksgiving gathering, but John squashed that idea because we had too much going on and lots to get ready before the family joined us.

But John has that husband thing kinda wired. He’s normally off on Mondays and maybe he was inspired by how sparkly the house was since we got it spruced up over the weekend. Apparently he dragged the Martha Stewart Xmas tree out of the closet, assembled it, set it up on a nice green cloth, and strung it with lights. When I walked in the door after work, I was pleasantly surprised! I dare say I bet my eyes sparkled! Sparkly is the word of the day.

Our tree is 10 years old, a few months younger than Kid2. It’s a 7-foot replica of a Douglas fir, and it’s pretty nice for an artificial tree. I had had it with needles dropping off real trees by the time my birthday rolled around, a full two weeks before the big day. This tree drops a few needles each year, but it’s not a baldy. Spiders might move in during the summer, but I don’t ever see anything escape when we bust it out each November or December.

I think this was the last thing I ever bought at K-Mart. We got it when K-Mart was at Kapolei. Is K-Mart still at Kapolei? I have no idea. I think I paid $70 for it. No lights, just a tree with color-coded tape on each branch’s wire with a corresponding how-to-assemble legend. For about $7 a year, this tree has been a great stand in for the real thing.

It’s nice to get our tree up before the December birthdays (three in our family), for Xmas and for New Year’s. This tree is like an old friend. Tonight’s discussion was about putting ornaments on it or not this year. I told Kid1 and John that it was unfair of them to ask me when I’m so exhausted and vulnerable after the weekend kicked my butt. I’m not real sure what I want to do. I do think I am going to get around to doing something I’ve wanted to do for the last 10 years: Make a star for the tippity top. I cannot stand a commercial star on top. When I was little the star was this old hand-made, foil-covered, cardboard star designed, cut out, and assembled by my dad. A tree’s top should wear a home-made star because that is the part that is closest to the sky, the stars, and the big wonder of it all in life. And it should be sparkly, forever.

When I make it, I’ll show you here.

Luv,
me.