oh christmas tree . . .

as i get older, i realize that the fairy tale life that i lead is just a figment of my imagination. once again the cute ideal life that my family/families try to portray are just that, ideals.

for instance, my mother hosts an annual tree trimming party a few weeks before christmas - its always a good time for me 'cause i am relinquished of the duty of single-handedly trimming the tree. to make it even easier my mother broke down last year, went against all previous notions of what was considered tacky by southern standards and bought a pre-lit martha stewart tree.

i walk, or limp, into the house last saturday in preparation for the 5 pm festivities, kindly greeted by my mother's bookclub members . . . and the tree-less living room.

NubianTemptress: hey y'all! momma, where's the tree?
NubianTemptress' Momma: oh, T (my stepfather) was too tired to put it up.
NT: so we're having a tree-less tree-triming party?
NTM: i guess so, unless you're gonna go get the tree and set it up . . .
NT: umm, i don't think so, have you forgotten that i just ran 20 miles, i'm tired too!
NTM: looks like we aren't having a tree then.
NT: how does that look? you're having a tree-triming party with no tree . . .
NTM: you know i don't care, we have decorations and christmas plants - nobody's gonna notice.

in my mother's defense, she's now 50 and she truly doesn't give a damn, but i highly doubt that people didn't notice.

the night before she made it known that she had no grandchildren to "do up" christmas for, so basically i'm shit outta luck until i give her a reason to get excited about santa and trees again . . . my stance is this - i'm still a child (since i don't have any of my own) and the tree is a staple in the christmas-time celebration/tradition.

luckily, she did promise to read to me on christmas eve, to honor of our timeless tradition. yes, i will not lie, i'm 26 going on 27 and my mother still tucks me in and reads twas the night before christmas on christmas eve. until i have a child to read to, i'm still the baby of the house.

when it comes down to it, despite not having a tree, it's still christmas as long as momma reads to me on christmas eve and i catch a christmas story in its entirety.