A Tannenbaum

I encouraged John to get up with me for Black Friday. We got a few spoils. One of these is pictured below. What looks like a vaccum for dolls is actually the Dirt Devil Versa. When John uses it, it looks like it belongs to Polly Pocket and her friends. Luckily, the trinket cost less than $10. John thinks we overpaid. And should have overslept.

*a small note about Black Friday. We were hanging out, watching a movie that was over by 11 and decided it might be fun to stay up all night since we hadn't done that in a long time. We tried to keep ourselves awake by talking and going to Waffle House. We made it until 1:30, took a "nap" and woke up at 3:30 to go stand in line with the rest of the crazies. Hardcore? yeah, probably not.

Next, I got a Christmas tree. I will admit, we went to the tree lot. And here is our tree.

I really wish that was how nice my tree looked. That is the tree at the Opryland Hotel. Here is the tree in my living room.

Slightly less regal, no less noble. And actually much more real(duh, since their's is plastic, or something artificial and mine is the bushiest fir I have ever tangled lights around). Hope you're all having fun with Christmas so far! Utah had better save me some snow.

It is more fall than winter here. . .

Living in Utah, winter lasts f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
That sucks.

However, because it lasts forever, it also seems to start at the appropriate time. I am really enjoying not freezing right now in Kentucky, but am finding it hard to get into my usual Christmas spirit with such nice weather. It gets plenty cool/cold here at night but we've had some 70 degree days last week which made it hard to think about Christmas(I know for you Christamas haters it doesn't come til after Thanksgiving but oh well, I like it after Halloween) when all of your life memories of the holiday are associated with piles of snow and winter coats. And scarves. And hats. And warm fires. You know, Holiday-ish things. Or cold weather things.

Also, to my disappointment I can't seem to find anywhere in Kentucky or Tennessee where they'll let me tromp through a National Forest and cut down my own Christmas tree. Usually Thanksgiving Weekend is the time for cutting down the tree. Naturally I would get a permit, as we've done for the last four years, but here it doesn't even matter, it can't be done. All they have are tree farms. This is what the website says -" Trees that are unsightly may be earmarked for use as wreath and decorative greenery." And for some stupid reason, I don't want buy a Christmas tree at a tree farm. It just seems wrong after getting to cut my own down for four years in the mountains. My indignation about the tree farm caused me to remember hearing some sappy story at church about three trees growing up in a forest together and the other two got picked to be Christmas trees and then I don't know what happened to the scrawny Charlie Brown tree; probably something poetic. Clearly I missed the point that day, and the fact that I don't remember the story doesn't really help my case either.




Mostly I feel bad for the ugly trees that gets made into wreathes.