Oh...Christmas Tree!!!!!!

We woke this morning to our beautiful Christmas tree laying on the floor in our family room! Sometime during the night, it came down! And that is a first. In 27 years of marriage, we've never had a Christmas tree fall.

When I sent a family text informing the kids about the tree's tumble, daughter Leah responded with this text: "If a tree falls in the middle of the family room and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?"  I actually laughed when I got that response because by that time, the tree was upright and wired to the wall to prevent any future mishap (we hope!).  

A quick damage assessment revealed water from the tree stand soaked into our family room rug and pad, the tree skirt, and several cloth ornaments. In addition, our wood laminate floor got wet. A few rag towels are drying in the dryer as I'm typing this. We lost several needles and some small ends of branches prematurely, but all have been vacuumed up. The rug and pad remain rolled back and 'propped' on the leather ottoman and a card table chair in an effort to get them dried out. As best I can tell, only one ornament needs repair. And by the grace of God, not a single wrapped gift got wet! This is the first Christmas our gifts have been wrapped and under the tree before Christmas Eve. After the overnight extracurricular activity, it is quite possible it will be the last...we'll get the wrapping done early; I just won't put the gifts under the tree so soon.

In the grand scheme of life, waking to find your Christmas tree laying in the middle of the floor is not high on the list of awful things that can happen. Our usual casual morning wake up involving coffee, conversation, and Good Morning America got interrupted, but that is not the end of the world. I think only one swear word was uttered during the process of getting the tree back to its upright position. I did an extra load of laundry today; again, not a big deal. I had to redress the tree, but truth be told, I looked at several ornaments with more fondness than I had the first time I decorated it as I placed them on the branches this second time. Oh, Christmas tree, indeed!

In honor of my tree... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw6h4mZO1oU