Change of Plans

Next weekend was supposed to be the Christmas Tree weekend. This weekend was supposed to be cards.

BUT, on Saturday morning, I woke up feeling crappy. I was moody. I was sad. I felt horribly fat. I found two new stretch marks on my tummy - proof that I'm expanding. I needed a pick me up.

So, Kelly agreed with me that we would use this weekend to decorate our house! Such a wonderful partner, she is. I know she didn't want to. She likes to stick to our plan. But, she took one look at me and just let it go. I love her. Dearly.

Off we went. We searched high and low. The tree farm trees were too small and looked dead. The lot trees (we searched three lots) were definately dead...and expensive ($150 for an 8 foot tree - OUCH). We went to Lowes and Home Depot. JOKE. Don't bother. They all died four weeks ago when they were cut.

By now, we're three hours into the adventure, and still no tree. My back was killing me and I was feeling absolutely devestated about this entire experience. What the hell is Christmas without the perfect tree??? You know, the one that has a beam of light shining on it from the sky when you first see it?

I was even ready to consider purchasing a fake tree. You know it's bad when that happens. Really, really bad.

Then we decided to take a drive down Route 5 to a little nursery that is out there. Actually it's a big nursery. It was a last ditch effort. By this time in the day, it was getting colder (it was around 4 PM) and starting to get dark. I was exhausted, but figured before I lept off the great divided and purchased the dreaded fake tree, that we should give it shot.

We arrived and honest to god, before I even got out of the car, the light shown down on the tree of my dreams. It was stunning. A perfect 8.5 foot Fraser Fir, with wild and crazy branches that looked just beautiful. The shape was perfect - you know, not magazine quality, but perfect the way that a tree should be. It was thick, lush and smelled like heaven. I pointed it out to Kelly from the car and made a beeline for it as soon as I opened my door. It was amazing.

AND...the nursery really knew how to take care of the trees. See, we're having a little problem here in Maryland. It's been in the 60's the last three days and is supposed to remain in the 60's for the next couple. That is absolute devestation for Christmas Trees. They die quickly in this kind of weather. Just take a look at some of lots around here- you'll see what I mean. You shake the trees and the needles just fall off by the thousands. That just screams house fire. And the term "house fire" has taken on a whole new meaning to me since purchasing a house.

But this green house had some absorbant cloth material over the entire ground, and it as soaking wet. They had been watering the ground (thus providing water) constantly. In addition, the trees had been hosed down every couple of hours.

In other words - it was in the best shape it could have been in, given the weather.

We looked at others. We contemplated. We giggled. I squealed a couple of times.

Then we bought that tree with the lights shining down on it. We brought it home, stood it up and it was perfect. We let it dry overnight and then spent last night decorating our tree. It's as beautiful as anything I could have dreamed up. I'll post a picture soon...