Christmas Trees

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 – 6:40 P.M. I have had to go five places during each of the past two weeks.  Most of these were for medical appointments, with the exception of weekends.  With the help of Thanksgiving, I only need to go one place during the next two weeks.  That will give me a short breather, which I can really use.   The communication between my brother and I has improved somewhat.  We exchanged a few e-mails back and forth last week, and have been on the phone to one another a couple of times during this week.  My brother seems to be very eager to attend another counseling session with me as soon as possible.   As for my sister, she told me this afternoon that we did not have any problems between us.  If she really thinks that, then she is in a lot of denial.   For the past few weeks, my brother, sister, and I have been working around the issue of money that was owed to me from the sale of my home.  Although I have not yet made a final decision, I am now leaning toward accepting their offer.   With the holiday season upon us, we are about to enter an argument about trees.  How idiotic can people really get?  For about eight years, my brother has always gotten me a live tree for Christmas.  Two years ago, even though he had already gotten a tree, my sister went out and bought a small artificial tree for me.  Last year, before my brother could even buy a tree for me, my sister "ordered" him to buy a fiber optic artificial tree for me.  That meant I had three Christmas trees in one room!   I am in the process of trying to head off another such debacle.  My sister has had a very large tree in her family room for about twenty-six years.  Last year, she gave it to her daughter.  After doing that, my sister said something about being stuck with a small tree.  This year, her daughter returned the bigger tree to my sister.  Now, my sister is trying to give me her original tree, because she is going to buy another tree, which is supposed to be slimmer, and will fit into her family room much better.  I cannot quite figure out how that can be.  Did her family room suddenly shrink somehow?   While all this is going on, I seem to be collecting one tree after another every year.  I have decided not to accept my sister's offer for her large tree.  I am sure there is some sibling rivalry going on between my brother and sister over which one of them will get a tree for me, but I also think they are trying to show their love for me.  I am being smothered with kindness, and this is beginning to kill me.