Tree O'Clock

after spending most of Sunday making my 2nd round of cookies (the 1st batch was eaten quicker than a shaved pussy at Lilith Fair), the hubby and i went out to get our Christmas tree. as luck would have it, the 1st place we went to had almost exactly what we were looking for: a 4-footer that didn't look like Charlie Brown's castaway. my idea was to have a nice small tree (which would require a minimum of decoration), that we could sit atop one of our (rather large) end tables. with this week already looking hectic, i didn' t want to have to spend hours decorating a tree. i love christmas, but i'm a little bit exhausted. plus i knew i'd still have another batch of cookies to bake later this week.

so the one we found was a little bigger than table top, but still smaller than last year's model and last night...3 days later... was spent decorating the little guy with all the ornaments stephen and i have amassed over the years (both seperately and together). when i left home, mom packed up all the ornaments she'd given me since i was born for our tree. now every year, it's a real sentimental journey when we decorate: there's my 1st ornament which is brass and etched with my birthdate (7/31/76), a soccer playing Santa from my boyhood (yup, i was on a CYO soccer team), and one of my favorites: an Eskimo boy holding a wreath while a polar bear cub jumps through! cheesy i know, but i'm that kinda guy. i like a Christmas tree with soul: sentimental ornaments, handmade ornaments, mismatched ornaments, blinkining multi-colored lights, and candy canes. neat, orderly, Martha Stewart looking trees, with elaborate bows and color coordinated ornaments , or "theme trees", make me nervous. they're just a little too Christmas with the Crawfords for my taste.

now that the decorating is done, we can come home tonight and bask in the warm glow of our tree while sipping heavily spiked eggnog. well, after we clean up the kitchen from last night's cookie cookie decorating/Jack Daniel's cake (think grandma's fruitcake, SOAKED in whiskey) makin bonanza. it looks like Betty Crocker exploded in our kitchen. there's sugar, flour and baking tools everywhere. ok so after the kitchen is cleaned, we can sit in warm glow of the tree for ten minutes before we have to go to bed...