Another Round Please

I went to the doctor again today. I had taken my last dose of zithromax last night and I just wasn't feeling any better. In fact, I now am having problems with one ear. So I actually managed to get in to see my doctor. He seemed rather surprised to discover that I developed an ear infection while on antibiotics, but the infection is definitely there. So here we go with another round of antibiotics, but this time it's amoxicyllin. I just hope that works.

On to happier things. Mielikki posted about Christmas trees, asking whether people prefer real or artificial. Her post got me to remembering. My family always uses fake trees because my mom's allergic to the real thing. When I got out on my own it just seemed natural to buy a fake tree, I never even considered going for a real one.

That first Christmas that I decorated my own place was hard for me. Our family tradition had always been to decorate the tree together. We have a hodge-podge of ornaments that have been collected over the years. Many of them my sister and I made. As we decorate we talk about the memories that go with the various decorations. We even enjoy the annual debate over who the crocheted ice skate ornament belongs to. (For the record, it's mine.)

That first Christmas on my own I was homesick. I went and bought a tree, and then I put it up in my living room. I then cried to my best friend about how my tree looked like a Charlie Brown tree and about missing the tradition of having ornaments that mean something. I just couldn't bring myself to go buy decorations for my tree, because it just wouldn't be the same.

A few days later I was at my friend's house and she handed me a couple of bags. She explained to me that she had bought a Christmas starter kit for me. In the bags was a turkey baster, meat thermometer, and tree decorations. There were even lights and a star for the top of the tree. She told me that way there would be a memory attached to my decorations as I started a tree of my own. It was one of the sweetest things that anybody has ever done for me. That has become one of my favorite Christmas memories.