The best trees are Bug approved....or real trees vs. fake

So today after church we decided that today was the big day. The day we get our tree. Normally I am a big fan of the fake tree as I have been in the "fake tree camp" for years. I know there are some of you that have "Views" on this sort of thing, but frankly, fake trees are just easier. You pull them out of the box that's been in the crawl space all year and ...Voila! Instant holiday cheer!! But last year my husband grew tired of our sad looking tree and decided that it was the last year with it. So we got rid of it when we took down decorations last year. That fact slipped our mind all year until we started thinking about decorations a couple weeks ago. So needless to say....we needed to do something. So he suggested that we get a real tree this year.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the smell of a real tree. You can't beat that. But there are soooo many drawbacks. Like first off....we have cats. Cats that love to climb trees. In fact that was what pushed me into the "fake tree club" in the first place. About 10 years ago when Merlyn (our tuxedo cat) was a kitten, he climbed the tree so much and knocked the whole works over so many times that I ended up hanging the whole tree, stand and all from a series of hooks from the ceiling. it was pretty elaborate. I vowed then and there that I would never do a real tree again. And I hadn't ....until now.

So Bug and I venture out to pick one out and haul the dumb thing home. In the van. Good times.

We pull up to the place and Bug leaps out of the car totally thrilled with his responsibility to find the perfect tree. He meticulously examines each and every tree on the lot. Finally he has made his decision and a deal is made.

After much wrestling with this dumb thing I get it secured on the roof rack of my van and off we go at a staggering 15 miles per hour and with the hazards on the whole 4 block journey back to our house. I'm not taking chances. The whole works is held together by 2 bungee cords secured to the roof rack. I guess it was wrong to assume that the place would.... you know, help me get it on the car and tied down securely. Yeah,.... no. I was wrong. We were pretty much on our own.

But it all worked out and it is now drying off (it rained all day) on a table cloth in my living room. We'll decorate it tomorrow. Bug was so proud of himself for finding such a great tree. I am too. he did a good job. My mom was even here to share in his triumph.