To Be Jolly

Decorating the tree (or MY tree if we're getting into specifics) is an intricate process. Allow me to elaborate.


Years ago, my dear mother separated my ornaments and my sisters into separate bins so that when we grew up, we could whisk them off to our own homes and decorate our own trees. Well... 3 years later we're still decorating our parent's tree.

That's not the point.

The point is that my ornaments (mostly hand decorated glittery objects indistinguishable from crumpled trash with the letter 'J' all over them) MUST be showcased. Let's be honest, I was a child prodigy in the area of feather and glitter placement when it comes to decorating. All of that to say I tend (always) to claim the front of the tree for the strategic placement of my masterpieces collected through the years.

This year was different. After years of my sly manipulation a certain sister REFUSED to have her ornaments ignored. The result?

Cindy.

Picture this: a ceramic angel whose face was drawn by an eager 4 year old with permanent marker. Cindy's "gown" (if you can call it that) is bedazzled with glitter that has dutifully clung to her robes for all these years. Not impressed? That's because I didn't tell you about her yellow feather hair glued all over her head, jutting out in every direction.

This year, for the first time, Cindy is displayed proudly in the front and center of our Christmas tree.

You must be thinking, wow Jessica, you've really grown as a person to not be so selfish. FALSE. I felt guilty for the following conversation:


(Decorating the tree listening to christmas music)

A christmas song starts playing and the whiney voice of a woman just keeps repeating the line "a baby changes everything" over and over and over. I waited until halfway through the song (sometimes I try to keep my opinions to myself) to comment "Wow this song is really stupid." My sister agrees with me whole heartedly by saying "I know! This is stupid!"... We continue to decorate the tree and listen to this awful song... 30 seconds before it's over she yells "OHHHH! Like a baby, like baby Jesus!! I get it!!"

After rolling on the floor laughing for a while, I finally managed to ask her what she thought it was about, a public service announcement about premarital sex?
She responded by saying she just thought they were trying to get the point across that babies make life hard. Then follows it up with a statement along the lines of "I was wondering why they were playing such a depressing song during Christmas."

I love her and I love Cindy.