Andy Lien

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I was metformin hydrochloride and alcohol very pleased with myself after I went out and got my own #@%$*& Christmas tree. A little after the New Year, though, I got the memo from my apartment management company that ‘Tis the Season to kick out the Christmas spirit. The trees had to go and everything had to come off the outdoor balconies. I didn’t mind. After being gone for four days over Christmas, my tree went dry and began dropping needles everywhere. Furthermore, I heartily endorse people removing their decorations from the outdoor balconies. In fact, I really wish they’d enforce that memo and get rid of the blinky lights that make the second floor look like a hotel room overlooking Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Ah, well. Apparently, they’re all bark, no bite.

Conveniently, the apartment management company provided Christmas Tree bags for those of us who would be hauling them out to the trash through the hallways and elevators. Not-so-conveniently, just like I got to bask in the victory of independently bringing Christmas into my abode, I also had to independently see it out.

Sigh.

Let’s spiral back into Self Pity, shall we?

Nah. I sucked it up pretty fast and got to stripping the tree of its lovely ornaments.

I’d gotten a few more from friends and family. In order as shown below, I got a Santa ornament that is part of a series from my parents, a metal Dala Horse that was a token that accompanied a gift membership to the American Swedish Institute from my brother and sister-in-law, and an ornament with Ryman Auditorium, a historical site in Nashville, from my cousin and his wife who live in Tennessee.

All lovely additions. Thank you.

All lovely additions… that had metformin weight loss 1000 mg to be removed before I took out the tree-sized trash.

So, I methodically put things away. Glass items were wrapped and strings of white lights were unwound, extracted, and put away in an orderly fashion. I’ve learned year after year that it’s easier to decorate for Christmas when decorations have been stored appropriately. And, since I’ll probably be the only person taking them out again next year, I may as well make it easy on my self. Poor self.

I stood back and looked at the tree. It was a mangled mess. I understand why people throw away trees with lights on them rather than removing them from the limbs like stitches from a wound. I’m not one of those people who’d be able to sleep at night knowing I left waste on a biodegradable tree…so I did my duty and left the tree exactly as I found it: Naked.

Okay, not quite naked. Naked…in a big, plastic bag. Sigh.

Naked tree…plastic bag. I pondered the bag. As you’ll see in the upcoming photos, I didn’t get the bag right the first time around. It took a little limb-wrestling and a lot of needle-dropping, but I got it done.

Not only did I get it done, but I also got it outside.

By my own #@%$*& self.