I finally have all the outlets in my living room working again.  Apparently it was just a wire that had somehow wiggled loose.

So we were all excited to put the Christmas tree up.  It’s been hard enough for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I am just not quite feeling it.  It’s very sad because the girls are both really into it and I am not.

I started playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving (horrific I know!).  But I knew that I was going to need all the motivation I could muster.  I know that we will still have a wonderful Christmas.  I know the girls have no real idea what it means for Daddy to not be here.  And I know that we will get through it.  I just hope and pray that we can enjoy the holiday season, and not just survive it.

So anyway, the outlets were working and I dragged the 200-pound fake Christmas tree into the house.  I have never been a fake tree person, but when we were at Wright-Patt  we found this great tree at a great price and bought it.  It’s made things easier to not have big fights over what real tree looked best!

So I pull out all eight zillion branches, sort them all by color (with my trust 2-year-old assistant).  And was ready to start the assembly process.   I look in the box, pull out the four-legged stand, set it up and then picked up the main support for the tree.

I tried to put it into the stand and it wasn’t working.  Clearly something was missing.  I set the tall branch down, go look in the box and find it’s empty.

I ask the Little One if she took anything out of the box.  No, she didn’t.  I am missing a rather important part to my tree. So now I cannot put the tree up.

The problem is the Big One is so excited to decorate the tree after preschool, I have to do something.  We live in the middle of nowhere, pretty much. We have an Albertson’s and a Rite Aid for shopping choices. I don’t have time before the Big One gets picked up from school to drive the 20 minutes to Wal-Mart and buy another one.

So we headed to Rite Aid figuring we will get whatever they have. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my heart set on having a big huge full tree.   The one green tree that they had claimed it is 6-feet tall. I knew it was going to be bad when I saw the size of the box.  I am not exaggerating at all, it is about 1/8 the size of our regular tree’s box.

The Little One and I bought it and then headed up to pick up the Big One from preschool.  I didn’t say anything to the girls about a tree, just fed them lunch and put them upstairs for resting time.  As I took the 12 minutes to set-up the new tree, it took everything I had to not cry.  This tree was not going to help me get into the Christmas spirit.  It was sad.  It was pathetic.  It was a cheesy, skinny tree like you’d see in a bank lobby.

Oh well, I put one strand of lights on it and called it done. When the girls got up from their naps and came downstairs, the look on the faces defied the $20 I paid for the tree.  They were thrilled to have a tree in the house.  They were over the moon excited to put the ornaments on it.

It was a good lesson in perspective for me.  They don’t care how big it is, or how full it is, they just knew we had a tree to decorate.

We have been so blessed over the past year.  And my girls helped me to remember that focusing on what we have instead of what we don’t have is going to be the key toward getting through and enjoying the Christmas season this year.

Of course, the Husband’s presence will be missed enormously. But he will be home shortly after the New Year. YAY! We are getting closer!