Today I undecorated my Christmas tree. I had plenty of time, so I got very organized. I put things I was tired of in a bag that will be either Freecycled or donated to Goodwill. This is the box of unbreakable ornaments that can be hung on the lowest branches, so that my cat won't break them when she bats them around. She is going to miss her friend the tree, which has been so much fun to hide under when my daughter's dog Leo is visiting. She taunts him, then sprints away, and he can't follow her under the branches. If cats could laugh, she would. 
Unwrapping the lights from the tree; I've had these for at least 20 years. They have a little control box with 10 different flashing and glowing settings. My favorite is random soft glow, so they look like
stars in the sky. Such a peaceful effect. I hope they never wear out,
because they are very special and I don't know if anyone else makes
them. I bought them at K-Mart, which used to exist in my childhood
neighborhood, but that's been gone for years now.
No picture, but I tried an idea I've had for a long time this year. I got some Martha Stewart glass paint and painted each bulb of a set of 150 white Christmas tree lights. It sounds very tedious, but it was very relaxing for me. Now I have lights to put on my windows in the perfect shade of soft pink, not the garish magenta pink that's mass produced. My lights are one of a kind! They turned out soooo pretty.
I tend to save things. Today I had time to go through the whole stack of Christmas cards I've received over the past 25 years or so. Some were from people I've lost touch with, some are from people it took me a long time to even remember. I decided to save only the ones which were "picture cards", because I had to draw the line somewhere. One mystery, though, was two cards I received from my friend in MN for two years in a row, both referring to some great thing I had done. This would have been over ten years ago now, and I just could not remember what I had done that made her so grateful. I finally took a picture of this card tonight and texted it to her and asked, "what was it I did?!?" Once she told me, it all came back. When she was a young single mother and her toddler son's father was in jail, she was having a very hard time. For Christmas, I sent her a care package of toys and books for him, because I know what that is like. She is doing great now, has a beautiful house and a wonderful husband and good job, but she's never forgotten what I did for her that year. It touched her so much that she sent me heartfelt thanks for two years in a row. Things like this make me feel like I made a difference to someone, and that's a really good feeling.
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