Ornament, Betrayal

Ornament - Something that decorates or adorns; an embellishment

November 28, 2009

We got the tree up today. I should say trees. The green artificial tree we have had since I don't know when refused to stand this year. The stand for it is breaking, the screws are all stripped out, and to top it all off, half of the branches are falling off and won't go back in their little holes properly. So, thanks to the beauty of DVR, we paused the BYU/Utah football game and went on the hunt for a tree. I refuse to pay full price for an artificial tree when I know we can get one much cheaper after Christmas, so we sprung for a real tree. I haven't had a real tree since my teenage days at home with my parents (when sometimes we would go through 2 trees because they would die), so this was kind of a treat. We went to the tree lot in American Fork. The closest my kids have ever come to looking for a Christmas Tree is that scene from A Christmas Story when Ralphie ends up saying the Mother of all Bad Words. We found us a good tree for an ok price and brought it home and decorated it up . . . after we finished watching the football game, of course. Turns out the branches of real trees aren't quite as sturdy as the branches of our old artificial tree and unable to support the weight of some of our ornaments, including my collection of Scarletts. That was kind of disappointing. But it is nice to have the smell of fresh tree in the house. Now if I can just remember to keep it watered so it doesn't die . . .

Betrayal - To be false or disloyal to

November 29, 2009

"No modest, matronly dove grays or lilacs tonight." -- Rhett Butler

The aforementioned Scarletts, from the best book/movie EVER. This is 1997, the first year I have. I'm not sure if it is the first year in the collection or not. I'm also not sure why the focus is so poor. Anyway, getting the Scarletts out every Christmas is a big deal. Even Jack shows proper appreciation and respect for my treasures. One of them was beheaded one year when Addie pulled the tree over, and then after that Hallmark got smart and started making them from resin instead of porcelain. There must be more than one child who smashed their mother's treasured ornament and complained to Hallmark or something. However it happened, resin is much better. WARNING: All 13 Scarlett's will be highlighted before this year is over.