Dyke the Halls

It's started.

That Christmas spirit is creeping in.

Saturday morning we stayed in bed until after 10:00, just snuggling, dozing, chatting softly. We talked about how nice it would be to have a tree upstairs where we sit and watch television.

We got up, relaxed over coffee, then made the decision to go look for a smallish, slim, artificial tree. There were some other things we needed/wanted to pick up as well, so it was a good time to just get out and go.

We checked out the Big K near our house but didn't find anything that floated our boats. We did, however, find some cute stuff for my newest grandson and I picked up a couple of nice sweaters for myself. We thought maybe Big Lots was a good place to look for something inexpensive and, while we were right about inexpensive, everything they had was pre-lit with white lights. I like the colors, and want no part of a pre-lit tree.

We went over to the Home Depot and found a nice 7½ foot slim tree, not pre-lit. We also found one of those "One Touch" adjustable wrenches for my Uncle Bob. I got one for Lisa a couple of months ago and was really psyched to find the one for my Uncle.

We got home and unloaded the stuff from my RAV4 and got some lunch. Lisa got out the pieces and parts to the tree and said to me "Why don't you go down to KMart and get some decorations and lights and garlands -- you know what we want."

So, off I went, unsupervised, to KMart.

Let's just say I spent more for the decorations and stuff than we did on the tree itself.

But I have to make a confession -- I fell for something so whimsical and dorky, it'll surprise anyone that knows me.

I was walking up and down the aisles, perusing the ornaments and garlands and bows and candles, and found this cute little stuffed reindeer sitting in a rocking chair. It was about 15-18" high. By itself, it was adorable and I thought "This would look cute under the tree just as a decoration." Upon closer inspection, I saw the telltale "press me" pad on his paw, so I set it on the floor and obliged.

The reindeer shifted forward in the rocker, then back, making it rock and the familiar chorus of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" filled the aisle. I howled. I laughed so hard people began to look at me oddly -- but I couldn't help it, lost in the moment, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. A woman came upon me and said "Someone is having fun," and all I could do was laugh and point at the object of my amusement. Soon, the two of us were standing there sharing raucous laughter at the reindeer throwing itself forward and backward in that rocking chair.

Yes. I bought it.

I also found a nice, whimsical tree skirt that I just cannot describe, but also can't upload a picture for (as blogger doesn't seem to have that feature enabled today).

When I arrived home with my purchases, I excitedly told Lisa "You have to see this!" and placed that rocking reindeer on the laminate floor and pressed his paw. He began his song and his rocking, eliciting more peals of laughter from me, while Lisa rolled her eyes, shook her head, and looked at me sadly as I recounted my trip to the store. As the reindeer rocked and sang, the cats circled cautiously around it, tentatively walked toward it with their noses out, and then backed away -- much to my continued amusement and laughter.

We got the tree trimmed and are quite pleased with its appearance. And yes, the rockin' reindeer has a place under the lower bows.

And I'll take a video of the reindeer and a picture of the tree and the skirt, as soon as I can figure out why there's no photo upload links displaying here. (Anyone else have this problem?)