Oh Christmas Tree, How Sappy Are Your Branches

Here we are, just two days before Christmas. Like so many of you, I was a little late in getting the Christmas spirit this year. It really didn't fully arrive until my college kids came home. But, I am happy to report that it is here now with a vengeance and we are having a great time.

Except for the present situation. And no, I don't mean the fact that the gifts are a little leaner than some years.

I have a thing about my presents. I like the wrapper to match my den. Now try to keep in mind that I am a decorating failure. My idea of decorating is that if it fits into a frame, it is suitable for hanging. Wherever. And if a kid made it, display it with pride for the rest of your days. There is no style here. There is happiness though.

So why do I get my granny panties in a wad over the wrapping? Because my den is the best shade of pear green I've ever seen and I love red accents. Which is just screaming "Christmas paper". And this year, unlike years in the past where I take a sharpie marker and write who the gift is to directly on the paper (oh yes I do), I made little gift tags with holes punched in them and tied them onto my packages with cute red or green yarn. (All while humming "brown paper packages tied up with string" on a daily basis. I love that movie.) If I tell you my gifts looked great under my tree, it would not be bragging. It would just be the truth.

Until the tree sapped them.

We always cut a live tree from the best tree farm and have a great time doing so. Live trees bring such a beauty to a home. They smell great. They are always a little different in shape and size and fullness. And they bring that best aspect - the unexpected.

This year, my unexpected was that I looked down and my packages were drenched with sap. I'm not talking about a little drop or two. Oh no. My tree has been oozing sap like crazy. On almost every gift under there.

Since many of the gifts for my kids are books, I panicked just a little. It's one thing to get a shoe box covered in sap and quite another for a paperback book. So, all the packages have been lovingly moved out from under the tree and placed in the corner of the room. So sad. Gifts in time out.

As annoying as this is, it isn't as bad as the year we had a freakishly warm December and actually wore shorts to cut our tree. We hauled it home, placed it in its stand, and covered it with the (homemade) ornaments we treasure and love. I wrapped the gifts and piled them under the tree. Ah, Christmas.

Three days later I noticed something weird going on over there. Closer examination revealed that that tree cut in such warm weather had brought in some rather live additions which were now crawling all over my packages and even up onto the ceiling. I had to take the gifts out from under the tree to kill the bugs.

I believe I may have just single-handedly caused the sell of artificial trees to rise by double digits.

I like a little unexpected in my holidays. And I like to flaunt convention. I enjoy rather creative packaging for our gifts as well. Such as the year I wrapped every single gift in a shoe box.

Oh yes I did.

Shirts, coats, toys - it didn't matter to me. I had been saving those boxes for years for all of those times you get a note home from school to send in a shoe box. My kids still talk about that year. Drove them nuts since they couldn't figure out what anything was ahead of time.

I hope there is some fun and unexpected surprises in store for each of you this year. Really, life is more fun when it's unpredictable.

Merry Christmas.

*On an exciting note, at least for me, I now have a companion blog, Suburb Sanity Reviews and Giveaways, which will contain reviews and giveaways (the title probably confused you. So ambiguous.) If you'll pop over there in the next week or so, you can comment to win a great cookbook. A little belated Christmas gift for yourself.