When I began dating Trina, we were sophomores in high school. From the very first moment I dated her I knew there was something extremely special about this girl; something I wanted to spend an eternity to learn about. Ok, I should probably comment right here that marrying Trina was not the drug induced decision I was referring to above. To this day I still believe that was the best decision I have ever made; a fact that Trina constantly reminds me of every day.

Our first Christmas after we began dating I had this brilliant idea that I would get this giant stocking and fill it with all the things that I thought she would love. On the surface that seemed like a great idea. Of course filling a four foot stocking is harder than I had first imagined.

I had big stuff like a quilt that I made her (don’t laugh; I can wield a pretty mean needle and thread. Ok, that’s not necessarily true but I have a mother who is a sewing genius and I have an ability to sweet talk people into helping me with weird and unusual plans). I also included a camera, some music cassettes, a cool baseball hat, and other assorted items. I needed just one more thing to make this stocking complete.

On my way to see Trina, I stopped by the local Hallmark store. They had a display of Christmas ornaments and I decided that would be perfect in the stocking. Trina was a big fan of the Peanuts so I bought an ornament with Snoopy.

The giant stocking was a big hit and Trina and I continued to date throughout high school. Each Christmas I would buy her another Hallmark ornament to add to her collection. After college we were married. Trina thought it would be a good idea to begin a Hallmark ornament collection for me too doubling my Hallmark purchases.

When each of our children was born we added an ornament series for them. Obviously we were not alone in this tradition as the number of available Hallmark ornaments proliferated. With five children I suddenly found myself buying seven ornaments every year.

Soon Trina’s parents wanted ornaments each year so we added two more to our total. When our oldest daughter Ashley was married we thought we would stop her series letting her continue the tradition herself if she wanted. Instead she talked us into buying an ornament not only for her but for her husband Eli. I was now up to ten ornaments each year.

Before long there were other series that just seemed natural like Harley-Davidson motorcycles, cars, or baseball figures. Hallmark didn’t help either. They began to have Ornament Premiere events each July to have us start to buy ornaments earlier and earlier each year.

Then there would be the fall ornament open house in October where they would introduce even more ornaments. Now they have a Holiday Open House the first weekend in November with yet another set of special ornaments.

I now find that I have boxes and boxes of ornaments that each signify an event or date in our lives. I have a 9 ½ foot Christmas tree that is filled with Hallmark ornaments each year. It literally takes us days to put the ornaments on the tree.

What started out as a simple idea with one Snoopy diorama Christmas ball has morphed into an explosion of ornaments. There are days that I think maybe Trina is right; maybe I do need my head examined.

It all started 29 years ago. I had a new girlfriend and I was trying to impress her. Christmas was coming and I decided I would get her a really cool gift. I went out and found a Christmas stocking and began filling it. The problem was that the stocking I chose was about 4 feet tall. It wasn’t like I could put a couple of things in it and call it quits. No I was going to need some serious gifts that took up a lot of room. I gave her a really cool blanket, a jacket, some games, a bracelet, a small camera, some clothes. The stocking was getting quite full but there was just something missing. I stopped by the local Hallmark store to pick up a nice Christmas card to go with the gift. While I was there I noticed that they had a series of ornaments. They had two in particular that caught my eye. The first was an Eskimo on a piece of ice, the other was a ball with the Peanuts characters inside. Since my new girlfriend was a huge Peanuts fan I chose that ornament and put it in the stocking. The gift was a big hit and solidified our relationship (no I wasn’t buying her off, I just loved her that much). For the next couple of Christmas gifts I included the next ornament in her Peanuts series to continue what I had started that first year. That girlfriend would ultimately become my wife. We have now been married 27 years and each Christmas I have bought her a Hallmark ornament. When we got married we began a series for me as well. As we had a child we would add an ornament series for them too. When our daughter Ashley got married we added an ornament for Eli. What started out as a simple idea has blossomed into a huge deal where the family gathers around and selects their ornament for this year. Our house is filled with tiny boxes of Hallmark ornaments that chronicle each Christmas we have spent together. The saddest part of all of this is that the Peanuts ornament series I started lasted just a few short years. The other series that I passed up was called Frosty Friends and is still going on to this day. The first ornament that I could have had for less than $10 is now valued at several hundred dollars. I am such an ornament idiot.
Typically the Hallmark Ornament Premiere is a big deal at our house. We will go out early in the morning when the stores first open to pick up our ornaments. We have become regulars at several of the stores. In fact I have one Hallmark store that calls me personally to remind me of the Premiere. I am not so much interested in the ornaments but several of these stores have awesome food and treats. I always look forward to the breakfast burritos and mini fudge brownies. Many of the Hallmark stores also have drawings or giveaways. Through the years we have been fairly lucking having won something from one of the stores each year. This year we are not in Arizona for the Premiere. Instead we are vacationing in Idaho. This is completely new territory. I went into the store fully expecting to see the festive decorations I have become accustomed to at home. Instead the Idaho store was very low key offering iced tea and a mini cupcake. Where are the breakfast burritos, the fresh fruit bars, the wondrous chocolates and mints? Where are the drawings and the free giveaways? It was like a veritable ghost town in the store. Where are the crowds of insane Hallmark collections rushing the shelves to find the latest in limited edition ornaments? I had to keep checking my watch to see if I was on the right date. Yes, it is Premiere Weekend. This was so anti-climatic. I never thought I would be disappointed about a Christmas ornament sale in July.