THE STORY OF DISASTER

PARTY FOUL 2012

Words can not express the feeling that overcame me when this happened.  It was Tragic.  Like the loss of a pet.  I worked so hard.... all day Saturday to have the most perfect Christmas Tree! The perfectionist in me was at its peak. 

So this is the story of disaster....

note:  you may need a glass of wine to ease your spirit as you read

Yes, I was standing on that ladder.  The one under the tree....

It all started when Mark left town this weekend to go with some buddies from work to the Saints game in New Orleans.  I was not happy about it (honestly).. It was a holiday weekend and it was the first time in a long time WE BOTH had Zero plans... no wedding, no parties, no key note speakers at the church, no high school football games, no christenings, no Junior Auxiliary workshops, no runs to Jackson, nothing....  I wanted to lay low and do exactly that... NOTHING.  I had taken most of the week off work for Thanksgiving, and for once Mark didn't have to make up a holiday work day on a Saturday.  But, once Mark sprang this trip on me (Wednesday night I think it was....) I had no choice but say fine - Rose and I will enjoy our weekend of Redbox, hot chocolate, homemade soup, and Christmas decorations all by our self. 

So in preparation for being gone and doing his best to stay out of the dog-house for his last minute weekend rendezvous, Mark got me all set for Christmas.  Friday night he borrowed my granddads truck.  He bought a Christmas Tree - which by the way is was the most beautiful tree I have ever seen - it is 12 feet tall and touches our ceiling in the den - no holes - perfectly symmetrical (well it used to be symmetrical anyway.... ) He hauled it home and put it up.  He got all of my Christmas decorations out of the storage and brought them to the den.  He put the ladder up.  He cleaned the house.  Literally, all I had to do was make hot chocolate and decorate the tree.  In my eyes, it was a day of fun ahead..... 

Well, Saturday had a mind of its own.  My day started with Mark's alarm going off at 6am ON A SATURDAY! The sun wasn't even up yet! Rose woke up with a runny nose and a terrible cough - she's sick.... the funk had hit my baby.  Great.  All the more reason to stay cooped up inside all day.  After doping her on cough meds and children's cold and flu, we ate our breakfast, lit the gas logs, put on a pot of coco, turn on Christmas music, and started to unbox.  This took place at approximately 8:30am.  By 10am I realized that half of my lights from last year didn't work and since that is step #1 in Christmas decorating, we needed to make a walmart run - Rose needed nose spray anyway.  So I load up my poor sick baby and head out for the day after black Friday shopping - which was terrible too.  Who knew Christmas lights were 10 bucks each! It was like 100$ for LIGHTS! Are you kidding me....????  So now I'm in a bad mood, along with Rosie! Just call me Mrs. Scrooge by this point.  By lunch time I had accomplished close to nothing.  Rose (a.k.a. the Grinch) would not let me put her down.  She climbed on me all day.  She fussed.  Nothing made her happy.  She couldn't suck her bottle or her passy because she couldn't breathe.  Her little eyes were glassed over and the look on her face was absolutely pitiful.  I felt terrible for her. 

By 3:30ish that afternoon, the garland was hung, the door and entrance way were up (this was all done while Rose was napping), and all I had left to do was the actual decorating of the tree! The most fun part. I decorated for 4 hours! FOUR! Rose woke up happier, I made spice tea and re-attempted our Christmas music.  It was actually turning into a pleasant afternoon.  Or so I thought...

When ... Suddenly (what to my wondering eyes did appear?)...  I felt the tree "give" just a little....  I eased my hands off of the ribbon - nothing.  So I started to slowly ease down the ladder, when BAM BAM out of nowhere I'm ambushed by the Christmas Tree.  I go flying across the room - off the ladder.  My beautiful Christmas tree came crashing down.  Some of my ornaments are broken, some of them are bent, half of my lights are no longer working ( my 100$ donation to the Thomas Edison estate light bulbs by the way), the water poured out of the base and all under my pottery barn area rug, tree bristles were all over my house, and for some reason the outside lights do not work anymore as well as the clock in Rose's bedroom - I'm sure this has something to do with shorting a circuit somewhere in the line when the extension cord got yanked out of the wall and half way across the room by a giant tree. 

It took Julia, Allen, Josh, Walt, Rachael's mom, and myself to hoist up my Christmas tree, clean up the water under my rug, put down new towels under the base, and tie my tree up to the curtain rod with fishing line! A complete and utter disaster! Yes, I cried.

By the end of the night I was completely over "Christmas" and said to heck with it... our Christmas tree looks like Rose and Darly decorated it.  Literally.  Half the lights work, half don't.  Part of the tree has ornaments.  Part doesn't. It was awful.  Just awful. 

I have since decided that I absolutely refuse to allow Rose's very FIRST Christmas to be a complete sham.  I will make this the perfect Christmas - so help me God.  I have started to re-decorate the tree, and re-do the lights...  I'm not quite as enthused as I was round 1, but I'm doing my best to remember the Reason for the Season.  It was not the end of the world.  I know.  But it was pretty darn close to it :)