The other night, as we were getting ready for bed, Travis casually asked, “Why is this here?” He was pointing at an I-pass transponder that is currently living on our bathroom counter. It actually fits perfectly on the top of the backsplash trim piece. It has been there for about 18 months. Truth is, I don’t even notice it anymore. I explained that it somehow landed there when Trent got his own car, and therefore his own I-pass transponder. The one in our bathroom actually belongs in our geriatric Acura (the one from 2004 with 215,000 miles on it), but I never replaced it because nobody takes that car on the highway anymore. So, Trent returned it after borrowing it for his new-to-him car, I put it on the counter so I would remember to replace it, and there it lives in the comfort of our bathroom. 

That got me wondering about all the weird places that things land, and now belong. The easiest thing to notice right now was the weird Christmas decorations, that we now actually put out purposefully. First up is the llama tree. This is our 12 or more foot real tree. We actually spend hours at the tree farm hunting a tree that has a llama shape, bigger at the base with a long, skinny neck. When did this start? Why do we need a llama tree? We have plenty of space for a regular tree, so why do we even want a llama tree. I’m sure, at some point, the llama shaped tree was the best fitting option. Now, it just seems mandatory. I even tried to talk my crew out of it, but there is no fighting with tradition, even if we don’t know where the tradition started or why that tradition exists.

We also have the balls and bells tree. This is a 5 foot artificial tree that sits in our entryway. I don’t even know where this tree came from. The only ornaments on the tree are Tessa’s precious bells. She gets a bell every year from her godparents, her Aunt Gayle and Uncle John. This is by far her favorite Christmas gift each year, and it is eagerly anticipated. At some point, Tessa realized that she didn’t want to store her bells with the regular Christmas ornaments, and didn’t want them swallowed up on the real tree (and risk ending up on the burn pile), so she puts them on display in her bedroom for 11 months of the year and on the balls and bells tree for one month of the year. The balls were added at some point because the bells didn’t seem like enough ornaments for a 5 foot tree. I don’t even know where the ball ornaments came from. One year, they appeared and were added to the bell tree and that was that. See, we don’t buy Christmas tree ornaments. We made them or accumulated them as gifts to us. So, the balls of mysterious origin are now included as a Christmas tradition. So, watch where you leave your balls, or we may take them and incorporate them into our traditions. 

Our final tree is a seven foot pre-lit tree, with one third of the lights broken (the mid section of the tree). I bought the tree on sale one of the years we didn’t get a real one. The middle section of lights never worked. Maybe that’s why it was on sale. It seemed like a lot of work to return it, so now it’s part of our Haldeman charm. This tree has a blue and pink stuffed cat as its topper. If I remember correctly, the angel didn’t fit, and I said it needed a topper, thinking we would go purchase a nice topper. Then, the cat appeared, and it has returned every year. I’m pretty sure that we are the only people who have a pink and blue stuffed cat stored with our Christmas decorations. And it’s just a one foot tall, cheap stuffed animal, so it doesn’t fit nicely on top of a tree, so it falls off all the time. Since that tree is by our eating table, sometimes it dives into food, sometimes it topples into the pet water bowl. I can’t even take a picture of that tree, because, in true Haldeman tradition, it hasn’t been covered in ornaments yet. We are still living amongst the decorations tucked around the living spaces in boxes so we can finish decorating. We will get to that when the college kids get home. It’s a tradition. 

Our last piece of charm is our hanging bears. The stuffed bears are literally hanging by their necks. Folklore says that these bears were brought by Santa as a gift for the kids one Christmas and hung over their stockings by the ribbons on their necks. Well, when that year was over, they got put away with the decorations, now they get to be hung by their necks every Christmas. Nothing says Christmas like hanging bears. 

I may have to continue with non-Christmas items later. We are weird people. We can’t be the only ones with weird decorations or traditions. Let me know a few of yours. And have a great week!