Monday, November 28, 2005
How it took me all day to put up the Christmas tree....
Got up at noon. Dan was at the mechanic's with the car, spending $500 we didn't have on repairs we couldn't do without. I surveyed the "bonus" room to figure out where the tree would go. The reason it's called a bonus room is that it was an optional part of the floor plan. We paid extra to have this room added when the house was built.
Anyway, since the command center (my computer desk) can only be moved by Hercules, that, the entertainment center and the loveseat/chair/ottoman set stayed put. But everything else was subject to re-arrangement. Luckily, except for the command center, the room is reasonably tidy, so there wasn't a great deal of clutter to remove. I did finally take my four framed keepsakes from the StarFest and put them up on the wall because they had been sitting in a pile on a trunk since summer. One signed William Shatner, one signed Elijah Wood, one signed Sean Astin, and a photo of Shatner and me. Yeah, they look a little out of place amongst Dan's tennis memorabilia, but, oh well.
My first major obstacle was the Gazelle glider in the center of the room. It's lightweight enough for the average adult to fold up and carry, but I am not the average adult apparently. I knew I couldn't lift it, so I planned simply to fold it and push it a few feet to the edge of the room. Not so fast! I somehow got all tangled up in it, and the weight of it caused it to fall on me and cut my foot. For a person with fibromyalgia, this feels roughly similar to having a foot amputated. While I'm busy screaming in agony, the dog comes running up to see if he can help and smacks his head on my mouth! That was sufficient to bring tears to my eyes and a remarkable torrent of profanity to my hurting mouth.
So I've barely begun and already I have to take a break to get a Band-aid. It was one of those strips made of some new stretchy material that unfortunately doesn't stick to skin at all, so five minutes later, I had to find some paper medical tape to wind around the flapping Band-aid. Then I had to rest from the effort of bandaging myself. Then it was time to drink a Boost high protein meal replacement because I was already feeling hypoglycemic.
About half an hour after I dinged up my foot, I was ready to tackle something else. I left the Gazellle in the middle of the room and turned my attention to the cablinets that would have to be moved. The tall cabinet was easy to deal with because it only holds memorabilia, so I just cleared off the shelves and dragged it over next to the command center. The video cabinet, however, holds about a million VHS tapes and Playstation stuff (ok, maybe I'm overstating it a little), so it took a fair amount of time to remove the contents so the cabinet would be lightweight enough for me to move. Even empty, though, that sucker put up quite a fight. I managed to corral it across the heat vent from the command center, but I got so wiped out from the effort that I couldn't put all the tapes back in. I decided that Dan would have to relocate the trunk for me. Even though it has wheels and a handle, it contains part of a coin collection and lots of books once belonging to my mom, and I would have to empty it pretty much completely before attempting to move it.
Fortunately, Dan came home while I was sitting at the command center swearing at how exhausted I was already. He refilled the video cabinet, moved the Gazelle to the book room, wheeled the trunk to the other end of the bonus room, removed the zebra print rug, hauled the Christmas tree out of the garage, brought in the ornaments and decorations, and assembled the tree. Embarrassed that it had taken me two hours to do less than he had In fifteen minutes, I decided it was time to take a break for lunch.
Made some gluten free mac and cheese and heated up some leftover turkey and had a few bites of cranberry sauce. I was still too fatigued after lunch to go back to work on the tree, so I worked on some presents I'm making. I won't go into detail here in case the recipients read this entry, heh heh, but suffice to say I was occupied for a few hours with tasks that weren't physically demanding. Eventually I felt up to "fluffing" the tree, which amounts to moving the pipe cleaner branches around until they look more like a natural tree and less like a collection of pipe cleaners. This endeavor is getting less successful with each subsequent year as the tree appears to have developed mange. The pipe cleaners are actually starting to fall out. It reminds me of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". But it will have to do as we haven't money for a new tree at present.
After I finished fluffing and took another rest break, I started opening some boxes in search of the lights. I think it's some sort of Murphy's Law that every year they are in the last box I open. What we have are short strands of the tiny bulbs, and if you use only one string it just seems to call attention to the mangy-ness of the tree, so I went for two. It still wasn't quite enough, so I dug out one last strand that was clumped up in the bottom of the box. I soon found out why. MAJOR tangles! Luckily, I am an excellent de-tangler, so I plopped down on the ottoman and got to work. Then when I plugged in the successfully de-tangled strand, I discovered it was half burnt out! So I got to hunt for the culprit bulb....luckily I'd had the foresight to keep the replacement bulbs in the same box with the rest of the lights. By then an HOUR had passed and I was already getting muscle spasms in my arms every time I raised them, so Dan had to help me finish stringing the lights around the tree. What a difference lights make! Suddenly, the tree didn't look mangy at all. But I needed to rest my arms for awhile, so I took another meal break and worked on my gift project some more.
It was 8pm before I started hanging ornaments. You'd think this would be the easiest part of the whole deal, but it's not. Problem is, I have enough ornaments for at least two trees. What happened was that when Dan and I met, he had some ornaments and I had some ornaments, so we combined them. Then the year after we got married, my mom died, and I kept half her ornaments (my sister has the other half) because most of them were handmade by her, very beautiful and special. The main reason I even bother putting up a tree is so that I can look at her ornaments. So after those are up, I have to pick and choose among the rest what I want to use. I make it different every year, but usually include my horse collectible ornaments and stuff that Dan and I have acquired together that have meaning. I can live with no longer decorating the house interior or exterior, but the tree is special, and I just don't feel festive without it.
I think what I like about the tree is that once it's done, it's unique. From my mom, I have eggshells with lace and beads and little treasures inside, felt and cardboard shapes with sequins and images from recycled Christmas cards, styrofoam shapes covered in sparkling fake jewels, and a hand-drawn Santa face with cotton for a beard. I have a few Disney and Lenox items to commemorate the first Christmases Dan and I spent together. I have hand carved wooden ornaments from a local artisan I've received as gifts. I have reindeer and unicorns and penguins (for Dan) and manger scenes and angels and teddy bears. I have a handpainted Russian horse I bought in September. I have plain white translucent bulbs that reflect the lights and icicles in a very pleasing way. I even have an ornament featuring Chip D. Dog with Santa. It's a combination of whimsical and sentimental and cheesy and elegant that seems to completely sum up my feelings about the season.
And so it took me two hours to select and hang the ornaments and place the icicles. It was gorgeous when it was done, but I was toast. Dan had to put all the various ornament boxes away because I could not lift another finger. My brain was fried and every body part was hurting, but I had a sense of accomplishment I seldom get to enjoy anymore. And I have a month before it's time to dismantle the tree, which is pretty cool.
Rockin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday.....
Anyway, since the command center (my computer desk) can only be moved by Hercules, that, the entertainment center and the loveseat/chair/ottoman set stayed put. But everything else was subject to re-arrangement. Luckily, except for the command center, the room is reasonably tidy, so there wasn't a great deal of clutter to remove. I did finally take my four framed keepsakes from the StarFest and put them up on the wall because they had been sitting in a pile on a trunk since summer. One signed William Shatner, one signed Elijah Wood, one signed Sean Astin, and a photo of Shatner and me. Yeah, they look a little out of place amongst Dan's tennis memorabilia, but, oh well.
My first major obstacle was the Gazelle glider in the center of the room. It's lightweight enough for the average adult to fold up and carry, but I am not the average adult apparently. I knew I couldn't lift it, so I planned simply to fold it and push it a few feet to the edge of the room. Not so fast! I somehow got all tangled up in it, and the weight of it caused it to fall on me and cut my foot. For a person with fibromyalgia, this feels roughly similar to having a foot amputated. While I'm busy screaming in agony, the dog comes running up to see if he can help and smacks his head on my mouth! That was sufficient to bring tears to my eyes and a remarkable torrent of profanity to my hurting mouth.
So I've barely begun and already I have to take a break to get a Band-aid. It was one of those strips made of some new stretchy material that unfortunately doesn't stick to skin at all, so five minutes later, I had to find some paper medical tape to wind around the flapping Band-aid. Then I had to rest from the effort of bandaging myself. Then it was time to drink a Boost high protein meal replacement because I was already feeling hypoglycemic.
About half an hour after I dinged up my foot, I was ready to tackle something else. I left the Gazellle in the middle of the room and turned my attention to the cablinets that would have to be moved. The tall cabinet was easy to deal with because it only holds memorabilia, so I just cleared off the shelves and dragged it over next to the command center. The video cabinet, however, holds about a million VHS tapes and Playstation stuff (ok, maybe I'm overstating it a little), so it took a fair amount of time to remove the contents so the cabinet would be lightweight enough for me to move. Even empty, though, that sucker put up quite a fight. I managed to corral it across the heat vent from the command center, but I got so wiped out from the effort that I couldn't put all the tapes back in. I decided that Dan would have to relocate the trunk for me. Even though it has wheels and a handle, it contains part of a coin collection and lots of books once belonging to my mom, and I would have to empty it pretty much completely before attempting to move it.
Fortunately, Dan came home while I was sitting at the command center swearing at how exhausted I was already. He refilled the video cabinet, moved the Gazelle to the book room, wheeled the trunk to the other end of the bonus room, removed the zebra print rug, hauled the Christmas tree out of the garage, brought in the ornaments and decorations, and assembled the tree. Embarrassed that it had taken me two hours to do less than he had In fifteen minutes, I decided it was time to take a break for lunch.
Made some gluten free mac and cheese and heated up some leftover turkey and had a few bites of cranberry sauce. I was still too fatigued after lunch to go back to work on the tree, so I worked on some presents I'm making. I won't go into detail here in case the recipients read this entry, heh heh, but suffice to say I was occupied for a few hours with tasks that weren't physically demanding. Eventually I felt up to "fluffing" the tree, which amounts to moving the pipe cleaner branches around until they look more like a natural tree and less like a collection of pipe cleaners. This endeavor is getting less successful with each subsequent year as the tree appears to have developed mange. The pipe cleaners are actually starting to fall out. It reminds me of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". But it will have to do as we haven't money for a new tree at present.
After I finished fluffing and took another rest break, I started opening some boxes in search of the lights. I think it's some sort of Murphy's Law that every year they are in the last box I open. What we have are short strands of the tiny bulbs, and if you use only one string it just seems to call attention to the mangy-ness of the tree, so I went for two. It still wasn't quite enough, so I dug out one last strand that was clumped up in the bottom of the box. I soon found out why. MAJOR tangles! Luckily, I am an excellent de-tangler, so I plopped down on the ottoman and got to work. Then when I plugged in the successfully de-tangled strand, I discovered it was half burnt out! So I got to hunt for the culprit bulb....luckily I'd had the foresight to keep the replacement bulbs in the same box with the rest of the lights. By then an HOUR had passed and I was already getting muscle spasms in my arms every time I raised them, so Dan had to help me finish stringing the lights around the tree. What a difference lights make! Suddenly, the tree didn't look mangy at all. But I needed to rest my arms for awhile, so I took another meal break and worked on my gift project some more.
It was 8pm before I started hanging ornaments. You'd think this would be the easiest part of the whole deal, but it's not. Problem is, I have enough ornaments for at least two trees. What happened was that when Dan and I met, he had some ornaments and I had some ornaments, so we combined them. Then the year after we got married, my mom died, and I kept half her ornaments (my sister has the other half) because most of them were handmade by her, very beautiful and special. The main reason I even bother putting up a tree is so that I can look at her ornaments. So after those are up, I have to pick and choose among the rest what I want to use. I make it different every year, but usually include my horse collectible ornaments and stuff that Dan and I have acquired together that have meaning. I can live with no longer decorating the house interior or exterior, but the tree is special, and I just don't feel festive without it.
I think what I like about the tree is that once it's done, it's unique. From my mom, I have eggshells with lace and beads and little treasures inside, felt and cardboard shapes with sequins and images from recycled Christmas cards, styrofoam shapes covered in sparkling fake jewels, and a hand-drawn Santa face with cotton for a beard. I have a few Disney and Lenox items to commemorate the first Christmases Dan and I spent together. I have hand carved wooden ornaments from a local artisan I've received as gifts. I have reindeer and unicorns and penguins (for Dan) and manger scenes and angels and teddy bears. I have a handpainted Russian horse I bought in September. I have plain white translucent bulbs that reflect the lights and icicles in a very pleasing way. I even have an ornament featuring Chip D. Dog with Santa. It's a combination of whimsical and sentimental and cheesy and elegant that seems to completely sum up my feelings about the season.
And so it took me two hours to select and hang the ornaments and place the icicles. It was gorgeous when it was done, but I was toast. Dan had to put all the various ornament boxes away because I could not lift another finger. My brain was fried and every body part was hurting, but I had a sense of accomplishment I seldom get to enjoy anymore. And I have a month before it's time to dismantle the tree, which is pretty cool.
Rockin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday.....
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