Oh Tanenbaum oh Tanenbaum

Yes! We did it! We took our first step towards getting in to the xmas spirit, as much as we can at least.
This evening, painsteakingly, agonisingly, we put up the tree. I say painsteakingly because it took about two hours to do in total, because the lights were in a complete mess from last year and they took about an hour and a half to untangle and put on the tree. It was a bittersweet moment for both of us, partly because we remember how wonderful and magical last year's xmas was for both of us because we were together, and because we know that this year instead of spending it together as planned we will go our separate ways. At different periods through the tree being put up, DL cried and I held her, we flirted and got in a tangle with the lights together, and laughed and got excited about decorations we'd forgotten. It was, as I said, a bittersweet moment.

But now we're on the way to joining in the festivities, just have the xmas shopping to do and cards to write. we're also having our own xmas day at some point next week. I don't think the dog knows quite what to make of it all, she just stared at it and you could tell she was thinking, "why is that monstrosity where my bed used to be?" and, "hmm, I wonder what i can steal from the lower branches." I expect to hear crunching noises and have to extract things from out of her mouth over the weeks to come. That reminds me, she stole the sandwich I made yesterday while I was distracted by being on the phone and answering the door at the same time. Little sod.

The photo, by the way, is one taken of the tree last year as we haven't had time to take any yet. It looks more or less the same though.