The Little Christmas Tree

It must be hard to be married to a "Christmas Elf."  At least my hubby tells me so every December.  I don't know...I  think it would be fun to have someone so excited about the holidays that you can't help but catch their enthusiasm.

 

I guess it didn't help things the year I decided to play a trick on him and he almost put a bullet through our living room wall.

 

Just so you have the whole picture...my husband is a police officer, which means he carries a gun for a living.  He is also former military so maybe having a surprise for him that took place in a dark house late at night wasn't the best idea I've ever had. 

 

It all started with a trip to Walmart.  Do you remember when those motion-activated holiday things were all the rage?  Like the Christmas tree that sat on the table like a real tree until you walked past it and then the eyes opened and it said in a booming voice, "HO! HO!  HO!  Merry Christmas!" and then started to sing?

 

Let me set the stage.  It was our second Christmas, and my hubby and I had moved the furniture around so that our Christmas tree would fit.  We decorated both tree and house together.  He even said it all looked nice.

 

I just couldn't leave well enough alone, could I?

 

One night just before Christmas, I hid that motion-activated tree in our Christmas tree, turned off the lights and hid in the hallway to see his reaction.  It was probably a good thing that I was out of his line of sight...

 

My tired husband gets done his 4-12 shift and walks into a dark house after long day at work.  Just as he moves through the living room to turn on the lights, there is a rustle to his left and a deep male voice starts talking...and then singing...

 

To be perfectly honest, I really didn't think he would pull his gun and aim at the Christmas tree. 

 

I turned on the hallway light and called his name (well, more like gasped his name because I was laughing so hard).  He turned toward me and asked in a not so nice tone what I thought I was doing.

 

Which is really funny if you think about it...because we had just had a conversation about the fact that I was always so serious about everything.  If there ever was a time to be serious about thinking through a plan, it was probably this one but then again my sense of timing never was the best.

 

Needless to say, that little Christmas tree disappeared shortly after that.