Christmas is coming to the Jockey home, after all. It was a near thing. Nobody seemed to want to actually DO anything about it. The younger boy insisted that we MUST get a tree, it MUST be real, and it MUST NOT be a dinky little thing. Mind you, it’s not like he was going to take any action on his own about it!

So, we were stuck in a stalemate. Mrs. Jockey ambivalent about Christmas AT BEST; me wanting a tree, but not wanting to have to do the whole damned thing myself; the younger boy wanting a tree but not wanting to take any action; the older boy wanting … well, he’s hard to figure out.

Finally, Friday morning I took action. The older boy and I went out in search of tree. Found a lot still open, with a small but very nice selection of good sized trees, all marked down. They were in the process of disassembling things, as this was their last day.

Once the older boy and I went and got a tree, and we figured out where to put it, the floodgates opened, and now we have a beautifully lit tree with nary an ornament (Mrs. Jockey seems to prefer it that way), lights on the house, lights on the mantle, and around the foyer arch.

And Mrs. Jockey is feeling much more Christmassy. It may have helped that the older boy and I made an apple pie.