GIVING THE TREE THE TRIM

Ever since my oldest child was born, my sister has come over on Tuesday nights.  Originally it was so I could get a little rest and a break from a colic-prone Professor.  Later it became a couple hours to get something done uninterrupted or get some alone-time, whichever was most needed.  Despite the fact that my youngest is now eight (and that Chester adds as much to the chaos as she does to alleviate it), she still arrives dutifully every Tuesday evening.  And for the last 12 years, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, she's helped put up the tree.  Yes, it's a little early, but as you'll see the quality of my live-in help is questionable, so I'll take any able-bodied person I can get.

Of course, it wouldn't be tree-trimming without Christmas music.  As I mentioned yesterday, there are a number of tunes that make Chester writhe in pain, so we started with those...

Foghorn "helped" by hanging ornaments off her pants,
ensuring that the decorating process would take
twice as long.

Yeah, The Vulcan refused to touch those ornaments.

The Vulcan arrived just in time, as usual -- after the tree
had been hauled in from the garage, assembled, and
half the ornaments hung.

It didn't take long for The Inmates to become tired
and they began the first of their innumerable
breaks.

It's a long process with three two kids in the house.

Oinkers as the tree topper.

Poor St. Jimmi looked unnerved during the whole event, as
if she couldn't figure out what was happening.  Later she got a
hair up her ass and after rolling on the floor, raced through the house
at top speed.  She managed to crack me on the calf with her shoulder
as she zoomed by, nearly knocking me into the tree and leaving
bruises and a noticeable lump that is still there this morning.

Chester finally lost her sense of humor.

The Professor puts on the finishing touch.

Foghorn got the honor of turning on the lights, but during
the countdown Chester cracked her knee on the cat
perch concealed behind the curtain.  A few minutes later she
nearly fell backwards into the glass door of my antique china cabinet.

Ready for presents!

The whole experience was just exhausting.

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*  THE SAD TALE OF LITTLE RED RIDING CHESTER