Cheeseballs, Meatballs, Silver Balls......
Trip Start
Feb 21, 2007
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38
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Trip End
Ongoing
Guelph,
Ontario,
Canada
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Last week something dawned on me. To preface it all, I'm a total Christmas wacko. By that I mean I love decorating, wrapping and trimming the tree, perhaps to somewhat maniacal proportions. After that I invite everyone under the sun to come by and hang out, chat, eat, drink and be merry. It's not that everything has to be perfect b/c I'm definitely not about perfect, but fun, and bright and Christmassy and festive.
In the almost nine years Jeremy and I have been together, we've never had a Christmas tree!! We're usually gone somewhere, miles away from home, enjoying soft sandy expanses, big city lights, lush countrysides or drinks with new friends. So this year we made a plan to get out in the bush and cut our own. A tree lot though, not just where ever b/c you can't really do that 'round here!
Sunday was the day and wouldn't you know it, we got plowed with one of the biggest snow storms we've seen in a loooong time! Driving up the road was such a pain we knew there would be no tree-cutting this year. I was disappointed but hey, we still got a tree in the less exciting way; buying it in the city limits. The major bonus was the snow. It piled up like nothing I haveseen in years, blanketing everyting with soft whiteness and a glint of shimmer. We're talking feet high! The city looked lik e wonderland laden with an ethereal blanket and creating an austere yet beautiful canvas.
I was surprised and impressed by Jeremy's light hanging abilities! I know I'm not for perfect, but damn, did he ever do a wicked job! Apparently there's a trick; you have to spread them in and out while you're winding them around. Laying them on the tips of the branches isn't ideal and makes for a busy and rocket-ship looking tree. He told me the only time his parents ever threatened each other with divorce was over the hanging of the Christmas lights! So me, the usual too-vocal idiot, took the hint, stepped back and let him lay the lights.
Last night we trimmed. I am a tree nerd through and through. After a robust glass of red we started trimming our fir. The "special" decorations get priority, taking front and center, patiently waiting for the oohing and ahhing of other Christmas nerds. Up went the mini baking sheets with cookies, the instruments (Jer's favourites), the faux candy-cane lollipops, the clay-baked santas, the doves, the shimmery stars, the wooden ice skates (my favourites!), the roly-poly snowmen, the reindeer and the "special" bulbs, the exceptionally pretty ones.\. Then the fillers. Then a sprinkling of tinsel. Just a sprinkling though. Don't want the cats to be walking around with tinsel hanging out of their butts! Removing it is not the most pleasant thing, as you can imagine, and you may have done once or twice in your own life!
There's a reason this Christmas is special, much more than the others. I want to remember it. Every minute, every smile, every hug, every friend. I want to savor each of the moments and remember them years from now. I want to reflect on how blessed we are with what we have even though sometimes things seem hard and I wonder why we're doing what we're doing. I want to think of all those people who are not only missing the necessities in their lives but don't even have a single special person to share their time with.
Beyond everything, the tough days we all have can sometimes feel overwhelming. It's easy to wonder why we haven't done things in slightly different ways, expressed certain things or just taken a leap we wanted to but never did. No matter how ideal your life is, we're all human and we all have bad days and we all second guess ourselves, even if just once in a awhile. Christmas is a time to think on all the great things. I love my life and I am truly lucky to have had the experiences I have had thus far. They've shaped and molded me into who I am and I really like who I am. As we take some giant steps forward, it's the little things that need to be remembered because it's the little things that make the greatest impacts. Christmas, for me, is all about the little things.
