Oh Tanenbaum

We bought a tree last weekend. As far as Christmas trees go though, it's a bit of an imposter. It's lime green, a foot and a half tall, and can't support the weight of an ornament. Hey, at least it's cute. Additionally, it's an honest-to-goodness live plant and one of my co-workers has promised to plant it in her yard come spring. I like the idea of my little tree having a full life long after it and I have parted ways.

This is the first Christmas tree I have ever bought. Last year I was still trying to get my bearings, having just moved (back) to Canada, and I, um, well I guess I didn't have time for a tree. I didn't have time to write Christmas cards or do any baking, either. On the up side, I did have time to berate my staff for using too much coal to heat the office. Hey, you do what you can.

This year is different though, and I even put our ornaments up tonight. All three of them. My family has always been really into Christmas ornaments, and my parents' tree pretty much tells the story of our lives. Just a couple examples: a cello (me), a Detroit Lions helmet (Dad), a cute little rummage sale sign (Mom), Star Trek: TNG's Enterprise (my brother). Since I'm used to such personalized, meaningful ornaments, I have a hard time going out to a Target and buying a dozen red balls to fill up space. Three ornaments it is, then. Three KICK-A@% ornaments, that is!

Chinese Cricket: I bought this ornament at Beijing's Panjiayuan Market, also known as the Dirt Market. It was my favorite market in the city, and when I saw this one day I jumped on it. Some Beijingers train crickets to fight, sometimes winning hundreds or thousands of kwai with a champion cricket. Crazy - and interesting enough to beat out the panda Christmas ornament.

American flag: I got this as a Christmas gift from an aunt and uncle. This was shortly after 9/11 I believe, and I was living in Washington, DC at the time. The ornament has taken on even more meaning as time has passed, since I married mein deutschen Oliver and live outside my home borders for the time being.

First Christmas: Last year was our first Christmas as an official, legally-sanctioned couple, and I came up with the idea to go to a paint-your-own-pottery place and make an ornament together. It, um, didn't turn out as professionally as I would have liked, but I can't exactly scrap it and go make another (can I?). We were living out in the suburbs at the time and drove down to a really cool neighborhood in the city to paint the ornament... and that turned out to be the neighborhood we moved to two months later.