Monday

So yesterday we put up E's tree in Orlando. Wow. It was a beautiful 6.5 foot tall blue spruce artificial tree. One of those really nice ones that looks real when you step back a little bit. Anyway, we decided to start late on Saturday night. However, I had not anticipate the sheer amount of OCD Christmas cheer of E. I have had practice with mom (no, not there. Start with the big ornaments first.... Make it balanced, but not symetrical. More like aesthetically asymmetrically pleasing.) But E dang near put her to shame. You know in the department stores when they have the pre-lit trees where the lights artistically weave in and out of the branches so there are no lines of bulbs and it appears that the tree has that twinkling glow from within. Well, E puts those tree lighting people to shame. It took her three hours and six strands of lights to do that 6.5 foot tall tree. AND, we had to get the last strand the next morning.

Next came my OCD. She originally had a red and gold tree. However, two years ago her boyfriend got her a red and silver ornament. So, she went out and got silver ornaments to make her tree red/gold/silver. This year, she was thinking of making it just red and silver. In steps Stacey. We needed new ribbon and a new tree topper and ribbon to replace the gold ribbon on E's handmade ornaments. We went to Target and found the perfect topper. However, as we browsed the rest of the selection to make sure, another customer swooped in and took the last one. So, off to the next Target 45 minutes away. When I go shopping, I go shopping. It is not over until I find what I am looking for. I think I overwhelmed E with my dedication. (She's definitely NOT a fan of shopping expeditions unless they involve food and cheese samples.)

Getting caught up with work finally. I almost had a panic attack last night about how far behind I am. Today, I decided that a nap and a workout would help to alleviate stress, but then I did not get as much done as I wanted to. Oh well, perhaps now I can sleep (especially since it's now 2 am).

Here's a pic of the tree:

And here's a mini nativity that I helped E to paint at the pottery decorating place in lincoln last year. Note the penny by the camel...It's small! Funny little story: Her dad made the manger out of scrap wood (and did an awesome job). However, he also has that great xmas OCD. Along the sides is a fence held up by "rocks" that he painted and the little squares are haybales. He cut them out and rolled them in sawdust cuz he thought they'd look cool. And really, how can you have a nativity without hay??