Well, we got the tree up. This is actually impressive news. And strange to say, it's still alive - which is even more impressive news. AND we have a few ornaments! So life is good all round.We had to leave all of our ornaments in Moscow when we left, and last year I never got around to aquiring any in time. (I had other things on my mind like trying to figure out where the grocery store was and how to not kill myself trying to drive to it on the left side of the road!) So this meant that when the time to decorate the Christmas tree rolled around I just handed the kids a whole load of pipecleaners and some beads and told them to go to it. This resulted in several things. The first was beads up the nose, and the other was a really, really bizarre little Christmas tree. The poor thing just had wiry bits sticking out all over it and nothing else really. As if that wasn't bad enough, it promptly lost all its needles. And when I say all, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. By Christmas day, the tree had not one single needle left from about 5 feet on down. It seriously looked like a disease had swept through the forest leaving only a wreckage of orange twigs. Of course, all of these needles fell off onto my living room floor you realize. I did my best to clean up the ones that broke free and got out onto the carpet. But the rest that fell in and amongst the presents just had to wait until after the tree came down.
And the tree came down on Christmas day, before lunch. I have never in my life whipped a Christmas tree out the door so fast . . . the kids took their new things upstairs, and when they got back there was no more tree. And I doubt that vaccuum cleaner has recovered yet.
So when I tell you that my Christmas tree is still alive, you will realize the full weight of my joy in this statement. And like I said, this year we have a few ornaments - aren't the mushrooms fun? I'm pleased with those.
9 comments:
Psst...y'all are a teeming horder, not hoard.
Oh, and, cool! another blog to read!
Bekah! So very nice to find you here by way of Femina. We loved your stories and I had a really good laugh from your Christmas tree tale of last year! Goodness gracious! Here's to this year's tree gracing you with green a bit longer!
We are doing well here in the Lone Star State. I am now no longer startled when people greet me so loudly and heartily, and the obligatory ask-50-questions-when-you-meet-someone-new has only become a fun game. I do believe I am still considered a transplant, however. When I mentioned to Grandmother Lewis that we had flown to Idaho for a visit in October she exclaimed "You didn't tell me that you'd left the Country!" in her fabulous Texas accent.
We are enjoying our baby Lizzie who is suddenly 8.5 months old (somehow!). We are very grateful for her.
Many blessings to you all, and Merry Christmas!
Um...without the r on the end of horde, that is....
Yay! A Merkle blog! Bekah, I thought of you the other day when I called my husband at work for the who-knows-how-manyth time. And I don't even have kids (on the outside) yet. Cheers to all Merkles!
Beth Crawford
Beth! Hey there! What fun to hear from you! And I'm so glad that you're having to call your husband all the time too. That makes me feel very vindicated. Were you the one I got on the phone the time that I had a huge piece of glass in my foot and couldn't make it stop bleeding and had a baby stuck at the top of the stairs and couldn't get up because of all the smashed glass that was all over the stairs? That was a good one. But I think that I was very composed and calm to whomever it was who answered, and then burst into tears as soon as Ben picked up.
Yep, I think I remember that, and it was a good one. But I think my favorite Merkle story was the plumbing problem Judah created by his very alternative storage solution for potatoes and apples. And I think there were other events involving Judah and stairs, weren't there? Y'all really should write a book. ;-)
Oh my word - I completely forgot about the alternative fruit bowl! That was a ripe one . . . I think it was like 7 potatoes and 2 apples, or maybe the other way around - I don't even remembr now!
Hey Naomi! How fun to hear from you! And here we are in the land where the social expectations are the polar opposite of Texas - I really don't know what an English person might do if faced with a Texan doing the 50-questions-when-you-meet-someone-new routine . . . but I would really enjoy being there to witness it! I was just discussing with several English people how the majority of ther countrymen take it when Americans say, "Have a nice day" - and that is, they roll their eyes and inwardly gag. Same with "It's been SUCH a pleasure to talk with you!" They think it an insincere put on and feel they're being handed a line. And I admit to having what must be a contrarian streak because I say, "Have a nice day!" at absolutely every opportunity - with several exclamation points and the biggest smile I can muster on the spur of the moment.
And Valerie - thanks for the hot tip on the spelling! That one slipped right by me . . .
I don't even know the whole story, but I'm laughing my head off over the "alternative fruit bowl." One of those tales for which few words and even my rudimentary imaginative skills suffice!
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