The Christmas Tree

I don't put up my Christmas tree every year. In fact, I can't remember the last time I put it up. Usually, I just put Grandma's little lighter tree in the living room window and a few decorations around the apartment and call it good.

This year? I wanted the tree up.

2014 has been a rotten year from one end to the other. I lost my job in March. Spent most of the year flat broke. Won't be able to buy presents for anyone this year--the first time in my adult life that that's happened. And that doesn't even count the deaths of friends and family. So I decided that my Christmas spirit would need as much stoking as possible. Hence, the tree.

Granted, it's not a very big tree--just a three-foot artificial pine--and the ornaments and decorations are a mixed bag of remnants from various holiday celebrations past. Some are leftovers from Grandma's collection, including Angelique near the top of the tree. Others are thrift store finds. A bunch are from Hallmark or Target (in my neighborhood, they're right next door to each other). Still others were picked up on eBay (back when I could afford to shop on eBay). And a couple were picked up during Uncle Fun's going-out-of-business sale.

I had the tree set up before leaving for dinner at Mom's house Thanksgiving Day and had it decorated by the time I went to bed last night. It's a work in progress--I usually fiddle with the tree for a few days after putting it up, and I always see more bald spots on it than anyone else does--but the living room already feels brighter.