Holiday Hunting Season

I've been incredibly busy these last few days with work and life. Things happened. Some good, some stressful, most just unexpected. Whatever free time I had was spent scurrying about trying to get things done, things I thought I needed to do for others, to make the holidays a little more pleasant, for them at least. And in between running errands and obligations, I found a few, precious minutes to do the things I needed to do for me.

Last year, my two feet high, prelit, predecorated Christmas tree of over five years died. It was an artificial tree that I just set on the table, plugged it in, and watched it light up (blinking or continuous, depending on the setting). So this year, I decided to look for a replacement. But I found out that they don't make any more trees like my old one. Rather, they have some new ones that frankly, didn't quite have what I was looking for. Most look quite pathetic, actually, very cheap and just dull looking. Rather than despair over the lack of good table top trees, I thought maybe I ought to expand my search to include trees that I normally wouldn't consider. Thus, I ended up with a battery operated table top tree, less than a foot high.

Behold, the Winnie the Pooh table top tree!



Actually, it's like a toy. It blinks and it can play the tune of jingle bells if you so set it. It runs on batteries. And it only cost me ten dollars. They had a Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse versions, but I refuse to have rats in my home! Besides, the yellow ribbons work better with the tree than the red ones found on the other versions.

Still, I thought the tree needed something more. So for a dollar and ninety nine cents, I bought a train to circle the tree. I call the train, the Equatorial Express, since it only went around the tree in a circle, not towards the north (or south) pole. It did make the table top tree look more inviting, and I was pleased at first. Still, I miss the fun of plugging in the tree to watch it light up.

So imagine my surprise when I wandered through a thrift store and found a two feet high tree. This one would require lights and decorations. All in all, I spent less than ten dollars on everything. I had a small problem deciding which lights I wanted to use. I thought about getting just plain white; but then I realized that I actually preferred the colored lights. Only now, the colored lights that could be set to blink were much longer than what I needed. I finally decided on a shorter colored light set; it didn't blink, but it was energy efficient and LED, cool and long lasting. I knew that I wanted just silver decorations on the tree. That way, it would be like shiny, glistening snow. But I did find some blue drums that I thought would compliment the tree. I didn't have a tree topper, so I just wrapped the end of a garland to the top.

Behold, the second Christmas tree!



This one would keep the smaller one company.

To complete my holiday decor, I stumbled upon some great figures that I could use to create the Nativity.

Behold the Nativity!



Two native island girls playing native holiday songs.

Joining in the festivities are children; isn't Christmas the most magical time for them after all? They're actually ornaments, but I prefer to put them under the tree instead. I was actually hoping to find like a mixture of the world's children, but no luck. I wondered, did other children have precious moments like these ones? Or were such moments limited to geographical regions and ethnic groups? Well, at least these children were made in China--just like the majority of things made in this world. That makes these children Asian. That snow they're playing on is actually a doily I got as a gift from a coworker many years ago. She gave me a vase along with the one doily. I had no clue what to do with the doily, but it came in handy as pretend snow this year.

I was also hoping to get the Little Drummer Boy, but he's booked for a gig in Bethlehem. Oh, well, I quite like my trees and holiday ornaments. I like them a lot. Of course, holiday trees usually have holiday presents. So I've put one under there, just for me. That's right. I bought myself a present.

Actually, it was a great find. I found it during a lunch time shopping blitz. I figured, what the heck, I've all ready bought stuff for other people. Now's the time to buy something for me! And it's something I actually like and need! Want to see it?

Behold, the travel iron/steamer!



That's right; it's a travel iron/steamer! I'm tired of lugging around my only iron when I travel. I luv my iron, but it's big and heavy. And when I come home to check up on the place sometimes, I leave the iron at the place I'm staying at for work. That sucks, because then when I need the iron, I don't have it! Well, now I've got one specifically for travel and work, and I can leave my regular iron at home. I can still look good in pressed, wrinkle free clothes, and isn't that what we all want to look like at work? If not working hard, then at least looking good?

Speaking of working hard and looking good, I'm working today and tomorrow. So, if I don't catch up on you, I just wanted to wish y'all a very Happy Holiday Season. Merry Christmas to all! Best wishes to you, be safe, be happy, and I'll be keeping y'all in my thoughts!