Monday, November 26, 2012

Eat My Rubber

Don't Forget The Saw

How many people put up your Christmas tree this past weekend?   By the number of pictures on facebook, I would say a lot.  We usually put ours up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving was early this year.  It was practically in October!  Well, at least it seemed that the Halloween decorations were barely put away before Thanksgiving was here.   Time is going way too fast.  

We have had a fake tree for forever.   And, depending on our mood, we would either put it up or get a real one.  Or do both.  The real one upstairs and the fake one downstairs.   I love real ones.  I love the smell.   I love fake ones - - they do not shed needles.   But we finally had to throw our fake one away after last year - - it was really kind of ugly.   I don't know if it was always that way, or if it just "turned" ugly the last couple of years.    So, we decided we'd go "fake tree" shopping on Saturday.   We went to WalMart - - it was later in the afternoon so all the crazy people had already left.   We found a really pretty tree,  7.5 feet tall, lightly flocked, and with lights.   For only $40.   Seriously.  That's what the sign hanging on the tree said.  We were about ready to put the tree in our cart and I felt I needed to look a little closer at the sign.  Long story short - - the tag was on the wrong tree.  It should have been hanging on a fairly hideous short white tree.  Ah, disappointment.  

We will go to our local Christmas tree farm this weekend (they have real reindeer - - honest).   Maybe we'll fake tree shop at the end of the year.    

Yup, we're gonna go burn some dust and eat my rubber.  Whatever, Russ.   Whatever.


31 comments:

  1. We have a tree up for the first time in maybe 10 years! Like you, I love live trees, love the way they smell, but for practical purposes (like the cats) we bought a fake one. I don't mind. We bought a live wreath for the door, and the cats can't get anywhere near that!

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    1. Some fake trees look so beautiful! Nothing replaces the smell of live trees, but the ease of fake trees is great - - plus they look more real every year!

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    2. That's true. My husband especially liked that he only had to put 4 pieces together instead of every single branch like the tree from his childhood!

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  2. I love real trees but I can't have any large tree b/c of one very destructive German shepherd. So I have a small fake one that I can put on a table. Had to scale down a lot b/c this place is really small.

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    1. Well, you don't have to have a big tree, or any tree at all, really, to feel the spirit of CHristmas!!

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  3. We're planning on moving into our new house just in time for Christmas ... I want to see if we can find a way to get a tree this year .. maybe. .. :)

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    1. I have a feeling that you will find the perfect tree!!

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  4. We get a real tree, which I love, but I end up sweeping up needles all year. Those things get everywhere! :)

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    1. Bringing in the real tree is fun . . . taking it out after Christmas is quite another story!! they seem to leave a trail of needles as they go :)

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  5. I haven't got my little fake tree out yet.

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    1. Well, it's still November, Beth, so I think you have time :)

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  6. We still get the live tree - albeit very small as we have a very small living room and NO where else in the house it could go. I think, though, that it is the right size all the way around. It's not too expensive ($20 on the ones I priced the other day). We live in an area where people come in order to cut their own tree. The kids used to like to do that and we did it a few years but really? really, it's more time, effort, and money than I like to spend on it! Pretty little tree is perfect - around the middle of December.....

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    1. We've cut down our tree before, when the kids were little. Now we just go to a local tree farm and they cut it for us. $20 is not bad at all for a small tree. Growing up in SoCal we used to always get our tree exactly two weeks before Christmas!

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  7. Oh Miss Judy, you should have had me shopping with you, you totally would've gotten that tree for $40! It's not your fault some slacker at Wally World didn't do their job! Anyway.. I too love the smell of the real trees but I so do not like those needles, mainly because everyone of my children and me have stepped on them and broken out and spent all of Christmas vacation itching n' scratching! Not fun. Artificial trees for me.. For now.. And you're right. You really don't need a tree to celebrate Christmas.. I don't think the Wise Men - or anyone for that matter - brought Christ a tree.. :)

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    1. Another customer looking at the trees said the same thing - "they HAVE to sell it to you for $40"!! Trouble is - I'm a big fat chicken - haha!

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  8. guess we'll get our tree this yr..
    yes! seems like it was just Halloween!

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  9. This is our first year with a fake tree. I got it on a great sale after Christmas last year. It has it's pros and cons, but so far so good. You do have to wait until after Christmas or the decent looking ones are way too expensive.

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  10. way too early ..
    I have the impression that in the United States the events flow over in one another and do not leave any breathing space to the people (customers , shoppers) !
    we put up our tree on December 12 because unlike you, we first deal with Saint Nicolas on December 5 and 6 and unlike anyone else, we celebrate a birthday in the family on December 11.
    Walmart is getting expensive, but you say the fake trees are getting better and better , so maybe Walmart has a point anyway...

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    1. You're right, Anni! Holidays over here DO flow right into the next, it seems. I bet before the end of the year the stores have Valentines candy out already!!!!

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  11. don't ya hate it when it is too good to be true--enjoy your trip for the tree :)

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  12. I bought a real tree once. Carrying it home up an icy hill wasn't much fun though - they are so much heavier than they look. They also seem to quadruple in size when you get them into the house. Nice smell though. :-)

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    1. I sometimes the tree of your dreams exceeds the ceiling in your house!

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  13. We are new to the real tree club, this is our second year. I hate that you can't put it up too early or it won't last. Still having reservations about wasting the money on real trees, but love the traditions we are passing down to our kids.

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    1. I look at the cost of the tree as a present to our family! haha

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  14. We haven't had a real tree in many years. There's nothing like that lost pine needle in the carpet impaling a foot in the middle of February. :/ But we always had fun going to the Christmas Tree Farm to get it. I agree the cost of live trees today is outrageous. Great post!

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  15. The facebook posts are killing me. I love Christmas and all the decorations, but we're having a bit of a repair problem that is delaying things. Breaking my heart is what it's doing. Excited about your real tree!

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    1. Marianne, 2 years ago our kitchen flooded right after Thanksgiving. We had to gut it - wasn't put back together until February! We had pizza for Christnas dinner that year :)

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