December

How in the heck can it be December 1st already?   And then  i wondered how in the heck that only 24 days remain until Christmas.   Duh.   But I'm on it this year.    Maybe.   I made the executive decision to go with an artifical tree this year.   The minions won't be pleased.    Our Christmas trees are legend in this house.    I always let the kids pick the tree out, and usually only had to put a dollar limit on it.    Once the boys his 6' tall the trees got bigger, waaay bigger.    The one I should have vetoed at the lot was the best I think.    I should have known when they couldn't fit the tree in the net machine thingy that we were in trouble.    I should have known when it wouldn't fit in the front door until we opened both doors up that we were in trouble.    I should have known that when we had to run out and buy a bigger tree stand we were in trouble.   But alas, I didn't really and truly figure it out until we got that sucker upright.   It didn't fit in the usual spot, in the livingroom, at the top of the steps about 5 feet from the wall, rather centered on the guard rail for the stairs.    Nope.   We had to put it pretty much in the middle of the room, so that the angle didn't whack her head on the ceiling.   at about 8' tall.    That was okay, but apparently this tree had also been on steriods so it was big around.   So big that you whacked branches everytime you went up and down the steps because they stuck through the rails.   And we finally just gave up using the door into the livingroom, and walked through the kitchen, diningroom and then in the other side of the living room, because the tree attacked you if you tried to go by.   Oh, and then there were the 6 extra boxes of lights we had to get because all the lights we previously had only covered half the tree and it looked stupid.   It was still sparce some ornaments because there were only so many more I was willing to get, so the tree got extra tinsel that year. 

My friend is letting me have the fake tree to try out.    I know what the kids will say.    However, as I remember quite well last year, the 4 of us couldn't seem to schedule 2 hours together to go pick a tree, so TinkerDaughter and I did it at the last minute.   No one wanted to come help put up and decorate the tree, and we'll not discuss the it is time to take it down conversation.     Nope, not a bah humbug mommy, but I'm sure going to be happy not finding pine needles in my livingroom in July next year.