Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Regardless of your ethnic or religious affiliations, most everyone puts up a Christmas tree.  I have been told that Sadam Hussein put up a Christmas tree for his two sons, Uday and Qusay.

It appears that putting up the Christmas tree is a family tradition in most every household in the USA.  It certainly was for me growing up.

I cannot remember too much about my first marriage and that's probably why I am no longer married but my second marriage is a Christmas Tree putting up marriage.

Our tree goes up a week or two after Thanksgiving and it is an all-day spectacle.

First, we pull out our WalMart plastic containers that are full of all sorts of Christmas people and items, placing them all over the living room.  Some sit on the floor, others sit on tables or on shelves, while some sit on the fireplace mantel with the Christmas stockings

By the time we are finished, our family room looks like a Christmas store, and we only used half the items.

Next, we go out to the front porch and set up a family of deer (with lights) in the front yard, with a multi-colored rotating spotlight in front of them.  Around these deer are Christmas presents with bows and bells on top and lights on the inside.  Lights are spread across the front porch as well,

Obviously, there are multiple extension cords that congregate as a central location where there are other devices for plugins, but the whole point of all these cords is so that we only end up with one or two connections to plug in and unplug each night.

We can never put the decorations up outside when the weather is nice, we always have to wait until the temperature drops and we are wearing heavy coats, toboggans and gloves, making it a lot easier to handle these small plugs.

Back inside, we assemble our three-part tree that we purchased from Big Lots or WalMart depending upon the price.  The trees come with lights, but we also put on all sorts of hanging decorations so that after the tree has been properly dressed, you hardly can tell it's a tree other than it triangle shape.

A snowman with a red tophat always sits on the very top...  even when the tree does not have the strength to hold it up.  PVC pipe is inserted inside it's head and tied to the tree's center with electrical ties.   It's in the back so it cannot be seen.

This all day tradition is executed by my wife and I with me getting down everything and her deciding where everything goes.   I assemble the tree but then she puts everything around.  She does this because I don't have the same creative eyes that she does.

She also decides where the family of deer are going to live which is fine but like the inside decorations, the deer get relocated at least six times before she decides their locations are satisfactory.

I wouldn't change a thing about my putting up the Christmas tree experiences.