Steve had to carry her, mainly because well, why walk? Her new BFF, Clarice, came along.
Josie and Clarice helpded carry it home - for about a block, by gingerly holding the tiniest bit of one branch. Then it was time to be carried again.
You would think from this picture the tree is large and full and lush and that maybe I needed the help. But no - I always get the Charlie Brown tree. This little 5 foot beauty (Steve refers to it as "the Stick") was carried home by me, with one hand, rather casually. The red Dogwood branches I bought weighed more, and after making a fresh cut on the tree trunk, now they are even longer than the tree. But it's a sweet little tree, and today it looks beautiful with lights and ornaments. In fact, I would argue that you would need some of those two foot gaps between branches to really show off the larger ornaments. And well, um, the fewer the needles, the less you get poked, right? And, well, being a rather small (or as Steve would say, stingy) tree, it only took two strands of lights and about half of our ornaments. So, it's only mid-morning, and we're done. And that's counting in the periodic work stoppages to wipe a certain snotty nose and to have hug breaks after coughing fits.
So, Josephine has had a little bit of a cold, and it's not so much the coughing and snot that bothers me - it's the stink eye from people when I'm committing some kind of heinous parenting crime...like taking her grocery shopping with me (gasp). As much as I'd love to completely contain the tot and her illness, if tree-decorating is only going to take half an hour, the day has to be filled somehow, and things still need to get done. Besides, she's starting to get whiny and snarky with me again, which tells me she's getting better.
Further evidence of her improving health follows:
One of those things that makes me laugh, and breaks my heart at the same time.
It was about two years ago that Steve and I had a conversation about pistachios. I often buy them for Steve, who likes the activity and challenge of eating them as much as the taste. I don't often indulge, because the reward to work involved ratio is less than equal, and not in favour of the reward. Steve was complaining that our pistachios weren't properly salty, and seemed soggy and off somehow. We couldn't figure out why. Was it the humidifier? Should I invest in the Loblaws brand rather than the Bulk Barn selection?
Then, one day, the mystery was solved. I returned to the room suddenly, and caught our dog, Beauty, with her paws up on the table, licking the salt off the top layer of pistachios in the bowl. It seems her modus operandi was to lick the top layer, wait for Steve to eat them, and then sneak back to lick the next layer of salt. For ages he'd been eating dog-licked nuts. Mystery solved! Since Beauty died, he's never regarded salty pistachios without some sadness.
It was with great pleasure that recently he discovered his pistachios were bland and moist again.
It seems our house is not a home without a pistachio-licker.
(Caught in the act!)
