Oh!..Christmas Tree...:(

Well, it's time to face the cold, hard facts...and share them with you. I've been avoiding them long enough, I'd say. (Though 'bout half of the reason I haven't posted about this sooner is because we've been so stinkin' busy!) BRACE YOURSELVES......... I hadn't been sleeping that well Saturday night; I knew I had a bad headache but I was out of it enough that I didn't get up to take anything for it. So, when I was startled (only a little bit) to a wide-awake state by an odd assortment of sounds--a thud-like noise, a slight rustling, a muted jingling and a couple of clinks--I wasn't surprised that I heard it first. Usually Peter is the lighter sleeper; I'm usually sleeping deeply, especially at just before 5am Sunday morning. Anyway, once I heard it, I knew exactly what it was. Our poor Christmas tree had toppled over! Before going to bed Saturday night, I asked Peter if he thought we should try to stand it up more straight; it had leaned a fair amount from when we'd set it up last Tuesday night. He said no. I just hoped that it would be alright; we've had our share of leaning trees over the years! :) But alas, my hope failed. I asked Peter, "Did you hear that?" He mumbled rather incoherently, "Huh? No." I told him what I'd heard and what I was 99.9% certain it was and he said, "great". (Gotta love that Hartung sarcasm...) :) I decided to get up at that point to get some water to wash down some Tylenol for my throbbing head, and I half-stepped on an ornament on my way down the hall to the kitchen. There it lay, the majority of it now in the entryway instead of upright in the living room as it should have been. Ugh. I felt sad. When I got back to our room, I confirmed to Peter the tragedy that had occurred and gave him a couple of details about its position and how it'd slung a few ornaments into the hall toward the rooms. I also asked him to take a few pictures of it once he got up--knowing he'd be up before me--because I'd already thought, "I have to blog about this." (Guess that makes me addicted now, eh?) :) Unfortunately for me, I learned later that morning that Peter had forgotten all about taking pictures of it and had already moved it from its original spot, put it in a different tree stand, and had it fall again a short while later. So, the pics below are not 'authentic', but you most certainly get the idea.....

P.S. After church on Sunday, Peter trimmed some lower, larger branches in the hopes that it would help it be more balanced out. Then we put it back in the first tree stand. As of tonight (I typed the first draft on Wed. the 12th; my niece's 1st b-day!), we have yet to fix the lights on the tree and re-hang all the ornaments--there were a handful or so still on the tree, but I took them down yesterday so that we can start from scratch whenever we get around to the whole 'tree process' again. We had about 5 ornaments--all favorites--break in some way, so we need to see what the hot glue gun can do to mend those. Anyway, it's been a bit depressing to walk by and see our poor tree looking so pathetic these past few days. However, it has helped that the thing still smells sooooo good! :)