Okay, I give in.

Well, our friday shopping spree for a Christmas tree (hey that rhymes) was a success. We took the plunge and bought the 8 ft. fir from Rona. It is lovely but unlit. I bought 10 boxes of clear LED lights for it and a few more ornaments. Let's not forget that I was starting from scratch. With the exception of 6 wooden soldiers we had absolutely no ornaments at all, but inspite of popular belief we did not bust the bank buying Martha Stewart type decorations. I (I say I because by this time Robert is sick and tired of the whole exercise and is staying in the truck) I chose to be frugal this year and bought ornaments at Canadian Tire, who surprisingly have a vast selection. I did buy the glass bird ornaments from Sears, but only because I had a certificate to use up. I chose a wine red colour and gold, with a few sprigs of red berries and glass icicles to hang off some of the branches.

So I get home with all my purchases and the very next day Robert is anxious to have me errect the tree. I guess after all the agonizing days of window shopping he just wants the damn thing up so we get the maximum Christmas tree time possible. hahahaha

Now, I will start from the very beginning of my saturday. 7 am we are having breakfast and Robert calls our friends Raymond and Vi. We have one of Vi's pie plates here from the last time they came to supper and she brought a plum pie for dessert. That was nearly a month ago. Robert asks them if they would like to come for supper. Imagine my surprise, since this is the first I have heard of wanting them to come for supper. Right, the very morning of the day. He does this to me once in a while. I hear about it at the same time he is asking the friends. They accept, and he hangs up. He looks at me a bit sheepishly and says, "that's alright with you isn't it?" WTF, what if it wasn't, I mean it's not like you can phone them back and say, you know that supper invite, forget it. I know you think well what's the difference right you still have to eat. but we eat our big meal at noon and just have soup or sandwich and fruit for supper. So having company for supper turns our day upside down and I like to make more elaborate things when we have company rather than just hamburger patties and coleslaw or an omlette.

Anyway, I chose to roast a chicken and have mashed potatoes, dressing, peas and carrots, gravie and salad with apple pie for dessert. Robert says, it would be nice if we had the tree set up before they come. I said, well, set up but not decorated. I wanted to take my time. Savor it, if you will. and then he promptly goes outside for the rest of the day. oh, not the whole day, he did come in about 2 pm and ask, hows lunch coming. grrrrrrrrr

I got the tree set up and am now contemplating having it as a permanent fixture. Not because it is so lovely, even though it is, but because it took me hours to tweek the branches into place all 2714 of them. I am not kidding. Don't forget it is an 8 ft tall tree, I am 5 ft. that adds up to a lot of stretching and standing on a ladder and I don't want to have to do it all again next year. In between bringing the spirit of Christmas to life in my living room I was dashing back and forth to the kitchen area tweeking my meal. So I finally put the top of the tree in place and bent those branches into perfection, stood back and took a good look, yup it sure is lovely and the potatoes were boiling over. darn... Once my kitchen crisis was under control I ran to the bedroom to freshen up and change clothes. I put on a somewhat flattering top and brushed my hair. Company was to arrive between 6 and 6:30 pm and it was already 6:10 . Robert still had not come in yet and I had to set the table myself (usually his job) I put out candles and dimmed the lights in the living room to enhance the look of the tree, it still didn't have lights on but just on its own it looked so nice. I had stuck the berry twigs in the boughs.

So I was managing things pretty well I thought. I even turned on the chritsmas lights I had outside on my barbed wire sculptured christmas trees. when the phone rang. I knew before I even answered it what it was about. Ray and Vi were cancelling. yup, Vi apparently had suddenly taken ill and they were not going to come. Okay I said thats too bad hope she feels better soon and hung up. I spent the next half an hour mantra - ing I WILL NOT BE UPSET

They do this quite often, once they even decided not to come at the last minute and when we called to see why they were an hour and a half late, we caught them in thier vehicle....but not on thier way here....they were in Edmonton shopping. Had apparently forgot about the supper invitation. So why should I be surprised this time right. I wasn't. The sad thing is , I cant even get all righteous and say we are not inviting them ever again. If I did that we would never have anyone over. we have so few friends. sad, really sad.

I try so hard to be a good caring person but I have to admit to having some not very christian thoughts about my so called friend Violet. Like, she better be REALLY sick to pull this on me again. I know, I am so going to hell.

I was so bummed out, Robert actually made me drink a vodka and orange, he had one too. Pretty radical behavoir for none drinkers. hahahaha one drink each and we both gagged it down as an act of defiance or what I am not sure. My roast chicken dinner was delicious. and afterwards we had to stay up later than usual because we both had a touch of indigestion from eating such a big meal so late in the day.

Yesterday I put the lights on the tree. and today I may slowly add a few ornaments. I want to build the anticipation of the final product.