Tale of the Tree

In the past we used to go out the day after Thanksgiving and buy a 'real' Christmas Tree. But once our son was born my wife thought that we should maybe look into getting a 'fake' tree. Many years ago the 'fake' trees did, indeed, look fake. But in recent years the artificial trees have started looking better and better. Of course the price for a 'real looking' artificial tree can run you anywhere from $120.00 - $300.00 (or more).

When we first moved into our home in Lower Nazareth Township we went out and bought a nice big artificial tree. It wasn't top of the line but it looked pretty good. The only problem was that the tree was at least 8' tall and touched the ceiling. So, the following year we went out and bought a smaller tree. This was a Martha Stewart model and was about 7.5' tall. We really liked this tree and continued to put this up in 2005, 2006 & 2007.

This year my boss was saying how he wanted to put a tree outside the print shop and put lights on it - make the shop look a little festive and possibly attract customers to the shop by simply driving by and noticing the tree.

Well, I told him that we had two artificial trees and I would give him the bigger tree which we no longer used. The only stipulation was that he had to keep this tree; as I did not want it back in the house (we're trying to simplify - trying).

Each year I would put our tree up in the attic. This was a big struggle getting it up the ladder and then propelled into the attic for next year.

Before giving the tree to my boss I made sure that the boxed tree in our garage was not the tree we used for the past 3 years. Sue came down to the garage the night I was to put the tree in the van and was positive this was in fact the old bigger tree.

You can probably see where this is going.

Well, last Saturday Sue and Carter started getting out the Holiday storage containers from under the stairs as I got the ladder from the garage so I could go up to the attic. I unfolded the ladder, climbed up, removed the ceiling panel and looked around.... and looked around... and looked around. Guess what? No tree.

We had to laugh a little since we soon realized that the tree that was in garage was the tree we had bought to replace the larger one. And after some thought I remembered putting the tree in the garage since I was tired of struggling to shimmy the tree up the ladder each year and into the attic (man, that sucker was heavy).

So, out into the night we went. And it just so happened it was snowing. We went to Sears first and Sue spotted a $150.00 tree she liked. Being the bargain hunter I am - I suggested we go to a couple more places and see what they have. So, we went to Home Depot - two trees and nothing less than $200.00. Walmart - 4 trees - one for $70.00 that looked like an artificial tree and 3 others that also looked fake and for a higher price. Lowes - 3 trees and nothing under $200.00.

So, it was back to Sears. We bought the $150.00 tree (which is also pre-lit) and are very happy with it. Our other tree was pretty wide and our living room has limited space so a thinner tree works great.

Later that night I took a walk with my son and our dog while it snowed. It turned out to be a nice night and it's always great seeing the lights on the house for the first time (of the season). And it's even better to go walking during the first snowfall.

The big question we are still asking ourselves is: What did we do with the other (bigger) tree? Neither of us remember giving it away and it's too big to be hidden somewhere. The only place it could be is in the shed and I don't recall coming across it.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday!

Don't eat too many cookies. Drink all the beer you want.