imperfect holidays

I saw a Hallmark commercial last night - specifically, the one where the kids start unpacking the ornaments and get lost in their memories of what each ornament represents. You know, this is the one from the year we got our first puppy. This is the year we learned to ice skate. And so on.

I wonder why I can't create that scene. I have bought or made ornaments every year to mark the special occasions. We have ornaments from our trips to Cancun, Hawaii, Mazatlan, Key West, Yellowstone Park, Washington D.C., etc. We have soccer ornaments, Texas ornaments (Brakston is a Longhorns fan), BYU ornaments, and so forth.

However, that is not the magic pill for a magical tree decorating session. Neither is playing the Christmas music. My girls tend to complain that if it's not December, then Christmas music should NOT be played (even if we're decorating our CHRISTMAS tree). Silly girls!

I usually have to beg for help in decorating after I am sufficiently frazzled from trying to get enough strands of lights to untangle, actually light up, and not look gloppy on the tree. (I routinely fail at that last one). The ornaments seem to go up quickly without the reminiscing seen on the commercial. This could partly be attributed to my poor memory as to who the ornament belongs to and what it represents...

Alas, I can come to only one conclusion: my life is NOT a Hallmark commercial!