I Don't Feel Like Celebrating

   December is always a rough month for me. I think it is a rough month for most of us who work in retail. People are extra crabby, extra in a hurry and extra impatient. We're busier and it seems like while everyone else is enjoying the season, I'm at work. No parties. No romantic walks in the falling snow, No fun.
  There's also no time to do the things that are supposed to get done for the holidays. No time to decorate, no time to bake, no time to send cards. No time to shop for presents.
  I'm also bombarded with emails and catalogs with deals on presents and warning me that I'd better get going on that list before time runs out. Some of these emails come from a church bookstore, which I find a bit funny. I would expect a bookstore run by a church to be a bit well...less commercial. I'm not fond of the commercial aspect of Christmas. It isn't about peace on earth good will toward all. It's about who can get the best present at the cheapest price.
  There's no snow on the ground. No Christmas music on the PA at work. Nothing to make it feel like anything but another month that I have to get through.
  C wanted to get a Christmas tree. I was planning to lobby against it. What was the point really? It's one more thing that I don't have time to decorate. It will probably stay up for a month until I have time to help take it down.
  Yesterday when C said he would pick me up so we could get the tree I kept my mouth shut. Just because I wasn't feeling the spirit didn't mean that I had to dampen his. I climbed into the car and we headed toward the greenhouse.
  We were the only people there because they were going to close in 30 minutes. We had already decided on a smaller tree this year. There were many trees there and we found one small one. Then the greenhouse worker pulled out another. It had short needles and looked freshly cut. It was the right height and had a good shape. We decided to take it. I found a kissing ball to hang by the door and had the tree tied to the car. We drove home, dropped off the tree and went to get a bite for dinner.
  When we got home we put the tree up. I had found a stand that I liked at the greenhouse. We put the stand on a towel and put the tree in the stand. While we were working with the tree I could smell it. I love the smell of evergreen trees. There's nothing quite like it. The tree went into the stand as if it the stand were made for it. We didn't have to do much adjusting at all.
  The smell of the tree started to fill the room. I began to feel a little better and a little happier. C put an angel topper on the tree. We wouldn't be able to decorate it until the weekend, but it looked good with angel sitting on top. I pulled Frank, our resident elf ,out of the closet and set him near the TV. He looked happy.
  This morning I could smell the tree when I got up. Some of the branches had dropped and filled out so the tree looked better than it did when we bought it. I needed to make some pumpkin bread to take to my Toastmasters meeting. The smell of the bread made me feel even better. A light coat of snow had fallen overnight and covered the brown ground. Much better.
  I had found a little time last week to do some baking. I made up a plate of cookies for C to take to a family he visits. On Sunday I think I'll try to make more sugar cookies. Everyone likes sugar cookies.
  I was glad we had bought the tree. I needed the attitude adjustment. I feel more like celebrating now.