Sunday's project

 

Tree decorating for me is not a design project, it's a walk down memory lane.  With a smaller tree now, I did not put up every ornament in the box, but chose a few combinations that spoke to me.  I didn't take photos of them all, either, but here are a few.

This little angel's box says "Jo" on it.  Jo was my mother's name.  It's a birthstone angel, with a topaz, for November.

Does it feel like you are seeing double, with another topaz birthstone angel?  You are.  This angel's box is labeled with my name on it.  

My birthday and my mom's are within a week of one another.  She purchased these angels as Christmas gifts the year that she passed, and we found them when cleaning out.  My sisters each got one angel from their own birth months, I believe.  They gave me both my own and mom's, because of the coincidence of birthdays.

Larry Bird, my favorite historical basketball star is at his prime, in Celtics green.  I watched him in college.  Hidden by the branches a bit is Shaquille O'Neal in a Magic uniform, dunking.  We bought the two of them together one year, one for my favorite player, one for my son's favorite player.

Also in this shot, the Pinocchio that came from my business trip to Italy in the 1980's.  The green Triathlete ornament was from my work team the year I first completed an Olympic distance triathlon.

Toward the top of the shot is an antique icicle ornament that had belonged to my paternal grandmother.

Going backwards in time, at the top of the tree is a papier mâché unicorn that my kid sister Alicia brought back from her ninth grade trip to Mexico.  Also featured is Woodstock, the very first ornament from my very first apartment.  A University of Nebraska Husker ornament is a more recent acquisition, I think it came from my son.

Another year I bought a couple of dog breed ornaments, a boxer and a Rottweiler.  The boxer was for an on-line friend's dog.  To Rottie was for a dog named Maxie who lived next door to us when my son was growing up.

Throughout some of these shots you can see the Mardi Gras beads, which I did NOT get at Mardi Gras, but at various running events, over the years that I participated in them.

Later in the day, more decor came out.  This includes my friend, Frosty the demented cookie jar.

I have to have a candle light display.  That is my ritual for the darker months of the year.  Either before sunrise, after sunset, or both, light the candles and savor the glow.

During the Christmas season, the angel choir of candle holders joins the array, along with the Christmas tree..

Life continues to be good.  Spark on!