Operation Christmas Tree - Yikes

I think I jinxed us when I wrote about our first Christmas tree in our new house last week.  If you missed that one, we got a real tree the first year in our new house and it would not stay upright so I threw it out the back door and got an artificial.

Last night, finally, at least Jay, Lane & I were available at the same time, when it was still daylight, to go get a REAL Christmas tree.  I thought a nice Fir tree already cut by the door of the tree farm was per-fect...but the fellas wanted to go out and find our own tree and have it cut down...so that is what we did.

We brought it home and got it inside and quickly discovered the base/trunk of the tree was too skinny to fit in the stand.  Jay grabbed some shims (ha, yes) and fashioned them in there to make it hold.  He had to leave right away for work so Lane and I were left to decorate the tree.  Hank sat back and supervised, he must have had a very hard day.  The tree was not the 'perfect' tree by any means, but we knew we could turn it to make it look decent.  After this picture was taken, Jay stepped back and we both started laughing, quoting those famous words meant for our fun-old-fashion-family-Christmas hero, "She's a beaut, Clark."

First thing I had to do was go to the basement, remove the sheet and get the lights off the already-decorated-and-ready-to-go tree stored away.  That was no small task.  I decided it was good though, I know I burnt at least 300 calories wrestling with the tree and the light strands.  Lane kept sneaking off telling me he had "something" to do but he would be right back.  Uh-huh.  I know that line well...I will say Lane did help decorate the tree for quite a while.  He sorted through and found all the 'fun' ornaments, you know, the ones I like to put on the backside, and got them on the tree first.  Then he decided to sit down and curl up with Hank on the couch, who, as you can see, is exhausted. 

 

I then took over and started sorting through things to find the ornaments I like best.  I went to the kitchen for a drink or something and heard a loud CRASH.  When I turned around, there it was.  Lane was speechless, and Hank was, well, undeterred by the commotion.  The stupid thing had fallen over.  Apparently the shims were a bust.  I considered taking a tarp strap and attaching it to the curtain rod, but Lane thought it would just end up pulling the rod out of the wall.  Smart boy.

 

After cleaning up the water mess...oh yes, Lane had already filled the base with water...I stood the tree up and leaned it over against the chair.  I was so frustrated...Jay was off at work so a support system for the tree will have to wait until later today when he wakes up.  I knew if I stayed at home, I would end up rigging something up on the tree so the kids and I took off for the Varsity basketball game.



 

I'll let you know how this ends...