Our Tree

Well, the tree's finally up. The first year we were married, by the time the tree decorations had all been placed, the Husband and I were no longer speaking. See, we both had a very clear idea what a Christmas tree should look like and the other was not cooperating (by which I mean, giving in and doing it my way). We got over it quickly, being newlyweds and all, but it remains a great marriage memory. Really! We giggle about it now. The following year, we each did half the tree, with a line right down the middle. But something happened, as our marriage went on, we accumulated less generic ornaments and the tree stopped being something that tried to match the picture in our head from childhood. Instead, we now have a tree so weird, it can only be ours. Our tree has (besides lights):

• Boba Fett (can't have a Christmas tree without Boba Fett), Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2D2, several ewoks and a plethora of ships.
• Mario Lemieux
• Several "year" ornaments, 1996 (first Christmas together), 1997, 1999, 2002. The reason there aren't more is that I don't always find one for that year that I love.
• Ralphie Wiggum and Apu
• The adorable ones my mother-in-law made for us over several years
• A bunch from my childhood that my mom made
• A candy cane reindeer a child made for me when I was volunteering with the youth group
• 2 VeggieTales ornaments
• 2 pictures of Eddie
• 1 picture of the dog on Santa's lap
• A large African-American Santa who is supposed to be in my office, except, of course, I no longer have one. I love him. I call him Black Santa because I'm so creative. My cousin gave him to me for Dollar Gift Exchange Christmas.

So, the tree is up, and the tree is us. It's our life together, piece by piece, year by year. It's lit up and we're sitting in the dark enjoying its twinkling lights and admiring our joint accomplishment.

Three days 'til Christmas!