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| The author of this picture project is due with a baby anyday (!!!) so this week is "Freebie" week. :) |
Yesterday we went to get our Christmas Tree. Usually we pick one from the lot, but this year we decided we should cut our own tree. The boys were old enough this year to make cutting a tree seem manageable. Plus, it wasn't that cold. :) Anyway, Tom has wonderful memories of getting a tree. In my mind I visualize his family enjoying a beautiful sleigh ride through clean, white snow probably singing a carol. They find the perfect tree, bring it home, put it up effortlessly, and everyone stares at it in aw while they enjoy sipping hot cocoa. Getting a tree never happens like that for us. In the past, we've usually been in a rush as we've arrived as they are about to close. Or I have memories of standing in a tree lot with a tiny baby just having given birth and had a blood transfusion 3 days prior. HAH! So, this year I had high hopes. I put dinner in the crock pot, cleared the schedule for the whole day, and had the house clean. Surely, this would be a day to enjoy. The day started with us not being able to go to the Tree Farm of our choice. It's so early in the season it wasn't open yet. But, since Tom works retail we had no choice but to go yesterday. We still went to a really, really pretty place, but there were no stable animals, Santa Claus, or sleigh ride. We'll have to do all those things on another day. We struggled to pick a tree but cut it down with no problem and carried it back to the barn (we forgot to bring a sled to pull it). We got home and realized the 8 foot + tree wasn't going to fit in our 7 foot ceiling basement. So, Tom cut off a few inches (which was difficult since we don't own the proper kind of saw) with a few choice words. ;) We brought the tree downstairs to discover we still weren't going to clear the ceiling. Thus, we lopped the top off. Obviously this gave us a very misshapen tree. However, after some pruning the tree is really splendid. Of course we set the whole thing up before we realized we forgot to put the plastic bag underneath and of course, like always, we put on 600 lights only to decide that wasn't enough but just said "oh-well." EVENTUALLY, we ate dinner and I vowed to ALWAYS order pizza on Tree Day. We snuggled and read Christmas stories by the tree and decided that the tree really is beautiful and we love that each ornament tells a story. Every year it's fun to walk down memory lane and talk about why each ornament is special.
So....the tree is up and hopefully since we cut it fresh it won't dry up and crumble before Christmas. Tom and I are dreaming of someday setting up a tree by a fireplace, but our short term goal is just being able to pick a tree that fits inside. :) I've given up my hopes of getting a tree without "incidents" and I've decided that our tree cutting tradition will be marked by mishaps and we'll all enjoy laughing at them for years to come.
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