1,000 Points of Light

After we scooted our personal forest into the corner, tied it to the window to keep it from keeling over, trimmed back some of the heaviest bottom branches and a few of the really long fly-away branches that bent at the wall or stuck out & poked you in the eye, I started to accept the reality of this monster as my Christmas tree. I still feel a little like it's invading my home, but we invited it, so I guess that's not quite fair. I went to Walgreens & bought lights for it - not quite 1,000, but 3 strands of 300 brings it close. (We saw one burned out bulb on one of the strands, but a blog title of "899 Points of Light" just doesn't have the same ring to it.) I give high praise to Adam for getting them on the tree evenly and without getting stabbed in the eye by sticky-out needles.*

Starting to look pretty instead of scary

899 lightbulbs and every-ornament-we-could-find later, it's beginning to look like a Christmas tree.

Adam scooted under the tree on his back to water it. It was thirsty. Good thing it only drinks water, or I don't know if we could afford to feed it.

Put a tree skirt around the base of it and a baby doing yoga in front of it, and it looks downright cozy. Go figure. We can't find our tree-topper, but as the top of the tree is already touching the ceiling, I'm not sure it matters anyway. I guess we're ready for Santa!

*Tangent story: I heard on the radio that this year in the USA approximately 5,800 people will be admitted to hospitals for injuries related to Christmas tree decorating. Most of them will be between mid-20's and 49 years of age. Congratulations to Adam for NOT becoming a statistic!

From CBC News Online:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that decking the halls leads to an increase in falls. In its first study of seasonal spills, the agency said 5,800 people a holiday season wind up in American emergency wards because of decorating injuries. The most serious injuries came from falling off roofs or ladders while putting up or taking down Christmas lights. Falling off couches and chairs while decorating the tree is also a major hazard. Men made up 58 per cent of emergency ward visits because of decorating falls. The most common injury was broken bones.