Christmas Tree

We cut down a Christmas tree last Sunday afternoon.  I'm not a big fan of real trees in the house. 

Scratch that, I'm not a big fan of pasture-cut cedar trees in the house.  I have a friend that lives in town and she has a lovely, real tree that she purchased from the grocery store parking lot and I think it's gorgeous.  My frugal nature keeps me from purchasing one of these, however. 

We have a hand-me-down artificial tree from Wesley's mother and it looks just fine, but for some reason I had a moment of weakness and told Wesley it might be fun to have a real tree this year.  (Actually, it was more like I was trying to suck up just a little after the whole go-to-your-aunt's-for-Thanksgiving-and-come-home-with-free-furniture thing.) 

So last Sunday afternoon we loaded up two pickups full of friends and drove around in pastures and CRP fields trying to find the perfect Christmas tree.  I was totally prepared, too.  I measured the designated area in our home where the beloved tree was going to be placed and I decided that we could comfortably fit a tree approximately 36" wide in our designated area.  I even took a tape measurer with me to the pasture.  Apparently, though, in the heat of the chase we may have gotten a bit carried away and forgotten to actually utilize the tape measurer when we were out and about.

Wanna know how big our Christmas tree is?

8 foot x 8 foot x 8 foot. 

That's right, we live in a 1,000 square foot house and we have a 850 square foot tree (approximately).  We had a bit of trouble with the tree tipping over when we tried to stand it up inside the house.  Once, as it was falling over, I dove to grab the tree and our friend Cody dove to jerk his three year old daughter out of harm's way.  We finally wedged the top against the ceiling and it helped our balance situation out tremendously.  Needless to say, there is no angel or star tree-topper this year. 

Not only is the top wedged against the ceiling, we placed the tree in front of our south door.  We can live without using it for three weeks or so.  Wesley and the other men used baling twine to tie the top, middle, and base to the door hinges and door handle for some extra security and stability.  You know us, safety first. 

We also had to move a dresser from its normal location and the loveseat has been temporarity moved to the middle of the living room.  Minor details. 

I feel like we are turning in to the Griswalds.  If you hear me call Wesley, 'Sparky' please help me snap out of it.