I saved Christmas!
December 17th, 2006
After our house was burglarized, we had basically written off our tree. The only time that my wife would have had to decorate it was on Friday evening, and since the tree was coated in glass there was no safe way that we were going to be able to bring it upstairs and decorate it. We had decided to leave it outside so that we would at least have the semblance of some sort of holiday spirit; maybe the cars driving by would have reflected off the bits of glass.
Yesterday, while cleaning up the glass from the basement, I decided that I could not stand to see my wife look so dissappointed. I spent about 3 hours on the tree with the safety goggles, some good gloves, a respirator and a shop vacuum. I started at the top and worked my way down, sucking down any leaves, bird feathers, and bits of glass that I could find. When I got to the bottom, I cleaned up what had been knocked to the floor. Then I worked my way back up. I probably traversed the tree at least 8 or 9 times. I doubt that I managed to find all of the glass in the tree, but I cleaned it up enough that I only saw one piece of glass in the last 2 or 3 times up and down the tree. At that point, I thought that the tree would be safe enough to bring upstairs and decorate.
We were a couple of days late, but we were able to use our christmas tree. I saved Christmas! My wife is very happy with me now.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
That’s awesome! I’m sorry to hear about your home getting broken into, that’s a real bummer, but it sounds like you really made the best of it.
Merry Christmas,
Franz
PS *do* watch out for those nasty little shards of glass, as you’ve probably figured out there’s always more even after you think you’ve got them all.
December 19th, 2006 at 11:33 am
I am sad to hear about your home invasion. That really sucks, especially at this time of year! Great job in saving the tree. I bet that was better than any present you could give your wife.
December 20th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Franz, thanks for the warning. I am not too worried about myself, I was worried more for the cat and my wife getting cut. The cat has not been too interested in the tree, since she got used to it being in her basement for the first few days before the break in anyway, and hopefully if there is any glass left my wife will manage to avoid it. Knowing her clutziness, though, I hope that I got everything off.
Capitalist, I told my wife what you said about it being the best gift. She thought that was sweet.