Been There, Done That: New year, same tree

I thought I was ready for Christmas this year. That’s quite different than pretty much ever before. I’m usually scrambling to do something. This year, Dave and I had a lot of luck with our shopping. I was very happy with the gifts we were about to give. I couldn’t wait to get the decorations up so we could wrap everything and put it under the tree. The polar opposite of me every other year in recent memory.

Unlike some previous years, I knew where all of our decorations were. They, along with our gifts, were shoved behind the headboard of our California King bed. We needed the tree first, which was also easy to locate in “the hole,” the four-foot or so deep storage area above the stairwell in the front room. The tree literally hogged up the entire hole, which was better than trying to force it behind the bed, too.

Originally, my plan had been to fill the giant totes I stocked up on, and store them along with the tree, in our newly refurbished basement. Alas, that never came to fruition and I shoved the tree behind the bed at the end of last Christmas season. It didn’t stay long though, because I could see it. I didn’t really care for that. So in the hole it went. I put a curtain across the opening and good to go. Out of sight, out of mind.

So the tree was easy to find, the stand it goes in, not so much. You can’t use the tree without the stand and they’re not the universal giant green things with the crank down screws anymore. We’re going to have to buy a new tree. Or, possibly hang the one we have from the ceiling like my aunt and uncle did in the ’70s. They could never get their tree to stand straight, but it hung straight every time.

Like the cheapskate I am, I continued to search for the tree stand and found it a couple days later. The black metal frame was perfectly camouflaged in a tangle of similar looking black electrical cords that run the lights in our bedroom.

Decorating the tree was pretty easy this year as Dave and I found some nice bulbs, etc., at sales in the summer to add to our already extensive collection. Only A-list decorations this year.

Our Christmas was wonderful. The kids came and we enjoyed our traditional fare of shrimp and stuffed mushrooms while we dug through our stockings and opened our gifts. So truly blessed.

The next day, I was ready to be done with it all, but I toughed it out til New Year’s Day, when we ate pork and kraut and took everything down. By myself. I wanted everything put away in a very specific manner that I didn’t even really know yet. Dave and I had picked up a couple of those big suitcases on wheels and a few small totes for the bulbs and decorations. The giant totes planned for the basement won’t fit behind the headboard.

Everything is packed in a more condensed and organized manner, to the point where even the tree fits behind the bed, too – along with the stand. That frees up a lot of space in the hole and I’ve got plans for that. I was ready for Christmas, I was ready for it to be over and now I’m ready for some serious spring cleaning in these long winter months