The Christmas tree incident, part 2.

So while I was thoroughly committed to an ideal candy cane Christmas, in the back of my mind, I dreamed of another sort. Somewhere in my past I must have seen a Christmas catalog with other decorations and colors because… well… I fantasized about having a peacock Christmas theme. I could just see all the blues and the greens and the purples! The feathers! The twinkles! But this theme I kept to myself.

I wasn’t in a hurry to execute a peacock themed Christmas. Every year after the season, I’d rummage through the clearance bins and if something presented itself that would fall in line with the peacock theme, I’d purchase it and tuck it away. It seemed to me that if I paced myself, one of these years I’d have enough pieces to do it right, and that’d be the year that I’d take a departure from the candy cane Christmas.

So our garage, excuse me, Brian’s garage housed both Christmas themes that I carefully labeled: Candy Cane Christmas and Future Peacock Christmas. Brian loves his garage. He hates my Christmas crap.

Well two years ago, on the Saturday, November 21st (the weekend before Thanksgiving), I entered the garage intending to gather my candy cane themed boxes. I’ve learned over the years that the salon becomes twice as busy during the holiday season. If I’m wise, I thought, I’ll decorate while I still have the energy. (We’re always out of town forThanksgiving, so I didn’t think that jumping the gun was really a big deal.  Who’d really see it?)

I opened one box and what did I see? Mold. That’s right! MOLD! Eek!

Oh, great. What else got ruined?

I shouted, “Brian! There’s mold in this box!  Can you please bring all of my Christmas boxes into the house – candy cane and peacock? I have to do inventory!”

Brian indulged me.

This was quite a chore considering that some of these boxes are quite heavy (Christmas dishes) and some are quite inconveniently located (garage attic).

Would you believe that the first box I opened was the only box that had been ruined? But there I was going through each one and it dawned on me that I had really collected more peacock decor than I remembered. So even though the candy cane theme technically had more to it, I decided that this was the year I’d try out the peacock theme.

Me, “Brian, can you please take all the candy cane boxes back to the garage? We’re having a peacock Christmas this year!  I think I’ve got enough!”

Brian indulged me.

And so began the decorating. I decorated the kitchen. I decorated the living room. I decorated the tree.

The tree.

That year our hand-me-down , branch-by-branch assembly, non-pre-lit tree was 15 years old. FIFTEEN! Every time that I placed and fluffed one of its branches, it felt like it was going to fall to pieces in my hands.  So while I assembled the tree and carefully wrapped around the white lights (which suit both the peacock and the candy cane theme), Brian and I had a conversation about eventually needing a new Christmas tree.  With the debt that we were trying to pay off at the time, it didn’t look like we’d be able to get another tree until after the following Christmas.

My husband went to bed while I finished making our Charlie Brown tree look as festive as possible. After a couple hours of placing, lighting, rearranging, assembling and decorating the entire house, I stepped back to gaze at my very first peacock Christmas.

Hmmmm.

I’m not sure.

It’s just… It doesn’t feel like Christmas. And now that it’s all spread out, it doesn’t look like that much. I think it looked like more when everything was in boxes. …Maybe it’ll grow on me.

And I, too, went to bed… feeling slightly restless.

Early the next morning my eyes shot open and I had only one thought: I can’t do it. I HAVE to have a candy cane Christmas!

I promptly began tearing apart and disassembling every last bit of decor that I had put up the night before. When Brian awoke and saw me – wild-eyed – re-packing the boxes and un-trimming the tree, I explained that nothing felt festive, that tree might as well have been bare. I needed the candy cane theme.

Me, “Brian, will you please take all these peacock boxes back to the garage and bring back the candy cane boxes that you put away last night?”

Brian indulged me.

To be continued…