Mattie has a tree!

 Calm before the storm here... I threw my apple core outside a few minutes ago, and it was still... decent?  I mean, it was nice and warm (for the season today), and tomorrow...meh.  I guess the cold is the issue for some, but the wind gusts -- and the chance of the prolonged power outages -- that worries me.  I have plenty of blankets, and food, but no one wants frozen pipes or worse, especially now.  I can make up the time at work, I guess; just keep the phone and everything charged and hope for the best.

In more positive news, the Christmas tree is up!  I went today at lunch, and for all the griping I did about Tractor Supply coming to town -- I would have preferred housing -- it was the site today, as they had some trees left.  Not a lot, mind you, but I expected that... and I was not one to complain.  Anyways, I found a nice fir -- tall, a bare spot but I moved it to the back -- and for $20 and change I took one home.  It IS beautiful, of course.  Anyways, I put her in the old stand (one of the screws doesn't work, I forgot about that), watered her, and then today after J! I started with the ornaments.  I took a couple of hours, and while I am not done yet... I am most of the way there.  All of the "toy" ornaments are up (I think), and now it is the glass ball types -- there are a bunch, many from the 50s, and I tried to be careful with them.  The tree is a bit crooked, but as far as I can tell, it's stable; the trunk just branches differently at the top.  Honestly, it was a lot like when I was a kid; heavier glass ones on the bottom (more fragile ones there in case the tree falls), non-glass ones at the top.  I almost got a bit teary-eyed; one of the metal teddy bears was inscribed with my name, and Christmas 1978...which means Mom and Dad got it for me when I was a wee baby...

I guess that is part of the reason I don't like Christmas; too many memories, happy and sad, co-mingling together... sort of like how I cry during Frosty (when he melts, it's awful), and now I never watch, but of course people call and text me to watch (my Mother, of all people, was the most enthusiastic reminder), and it's just as bad as tuning in.  Mind you, no one will ever accuse me of being sentimental (I saw a friend a couple of nights ago and she was quite adamant about that) and not having the stiff upper lip, but there are days...