After a week or so of thinking that the next day would be the day that the Christmas tree would finally go up, we decided that there was no better day than today. We hauled up the box and assembled the evergreen in its intended spot. As usual, Paul spent the next hour trying to remember which lights we had used last year and why we hadn't thrown out the ones that did not work. Grumbling as he plugged in one string after another and finding only two that lit up, he threw the entire bunch back into a box and declared that he was going to buy some new ones once and for all. Deciding that I should probably pick up a few things at the grocery store while he was going out, we both headed for the door with a list in each of our pockets. This was 7pm.

We arrived back home just before 8, I with six grocery bags and Paul with several new strings of lights. Soon after I had started too put the groceries away I heard my husband declare that he needed another string or two. By now it was 8:30pm and my enthusiasm was leaning closer to the comfortable couch than another trip to the store. I asked Paul to spread out the lights while I opened one cardboard box after another. Ribbons and garland, glass bulbs and angels, feathered birds and hand drawn pictures affixed to cardboard by little hands twenty years ago, stared up at me from within.

I pulled out one object after another and placed the shiny loot on branch after branch. The fact that I had to stop several times to inspect each piece as I tried to remember when we had bought it or who had given it to us or how old the children were when they made it, might have had something to do with me finding Paul on the couch asleep.The next time I looked at the clock it was 10pm. I wound some ribbon around the tree and finished off some branches with little wired bows I had made several years ago. I stepped back, took a look and decided that the deed was done. Tomorrow I will tackle the mantle.
Here's a look at a professional decorating a tree. Don't let the weather in the video fool you, decorating Christmas trees is serious business, even in California. It doesn't look like she used any hand made ribbons or children's art work but you may get some ideas for when it's tree time at your house.