The Perfect Storm

well, this title is representative of my perfect christmas tree this year.... the perfect tree - which has led to a perfect storm... i don't always have the best luck with my christmas trees... i've had strands of lights go out in the middle of the tree after it is decorated and impossible to take off a strand of lights (because i wrap the lights around the branches so that the middle of the tree lights up as well) of course, i've had trees die and just look plain terrible before christmas day. i've even had a few trees that have had a stroke, where literally ONE SIDE of the tree dies and the other side looks beautfiful. i've had trees where strands of lights have every OTHER light that works, AFTER i've decorated the rest of the tree. i've had trees that scratch the ceiling when we put it up and left a mark on the ceiling. you get the idea... i've had my issues with my trees!!

but THIS year it's different. THIS year, we picked the perfect tree. so far, it is still gorgeous. the lights look GREAT, the ornaments were perfectly placed, it continues to take up lots of water each day. i sat here wednesday morning in awe of my perfect tree while i ate my mini-wheats. just look at this beauty (before we even had any ornaments on it!)

then i went to get ready for work... and it happened.... my perfect tree, the gorgeous lights and perfectly placed ornaments, the straightest in the stand tree i've ever had... came crashing to the ground in my living room. no... maia was isn't the room! she was still in bed, my parents were still downstairs and matthew was in the kitchen getting his cereal ready.

i didn't really know what i had heard - but it was LOUD and lots of breaking glass... i actually thought it was dishes from the dishwasher that someone was unloading and they fell down. anyway... of course, it wasn't anything but my big beautiful christmas tree. glass was EVERYWHERE! if it had happened in the middle of the night... i would have called 911 as i would have thought someone broke a window to get in the house. anyway - what a shock and what a mess! matthew and i tried to put the tree upright, but couldn't! it is just too big. at this point, mom came running upstairs to help - but she said we needed grandpa. what a rude awakening for him! anyway, it took us like 45 minutes to clean it up, put it up, and then, you ready for this... TIE IT UP? yup, you read it right, it won't stand up on it's own any more. we have no idea why. the stem is perfectly straight. i've used this tree stand for years... it is as tight as possible in the stand - and yet it is now top heavy some how - so we got out the fishing wire so that it would be invisible... well - that wasn't strong enough, so we got out good old fashioned white rope to tie it to my bannister. wow- that really makes it look festive! NOT!! something right out of the beverly hillbillies! my poor, gorgeous, perfect tree, tied up by ugly white rope!

aren't you ENVIOUS?? :-D

i only lost about 15 ornaments though, we think... but we actually keep finding more we've lost, like this one, today!

isn't is beautiful?

to go back in time, here are pictures of us picking out our first tree with maia!

we loved this one... but my house isn't QUITE big enough...

maia didn't quite understand what we were doing, so she enjoyed playing with the rocks...

The only other decoration i have a picture of is my village (or part of it.) i put it up HIGH this year so it wasn't an extra temptation for maia... it's on top of my hutch but i actually love it. it looks great from the living room where the tree is.

my sister regan sent maia's christmas present and said we should open it early, so we did. she enjoyed opening it - it's her first nativity scene! and she can say "JESUS" very clearly!! it's awesome! the one thing we don't understand is the horse that came with the set... check it out at the end of this section of pictures!

can you see it's mowhawk?? what's up with that??

maia sliding.

mom and dad went to a christmas party tonight and looked great! this is the only picture where one of them isn't blinking - 9 out of 10 pictures, dad blinks. the ONE he didn't... mom DID! i almost dies laughing - we have the hardest time in this family getting pictures with EYES OPEN.

lastly, here is the big hole dug near my foundation last saturday to fix the leak around the water main connection (which I had to replace 3 years ago when i moved in...) the people who put it in apparently did a terrible job and i got a new company to come fix it right. they had to re-concrete and re-tar, but we got some torrential rain this week and NO LEAKING... so i suppose it is worth the money. besides, i really didn't have a choice! i'm sick of paying plumbers though - i'd like to keep some of my money for something OTHER than plumbing.

so, that catches you up a bit on the past few weeks around here. pictures will NOT load over a wireless connection for me on blogger, so i took the computer in the basement tonight and hooked it up directly to the internet connection. so, finally i've been able to put some pictures on here. now that i know that works, i'll try to do it more often!

i hope everyone is enjoying this lovely season. enjoying time with family and friends. enjoying time for reflection and quietness amongst all the craziness of the season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!