It all started with an idea. The idea that I wanted to put up and ginormously tall Christmas Tree. My husband was out of town, so I asked his best friend Chris to help. {with the promise I would make him a delicious Salmon dinner as a Thank You!} 2 Christmas Tree stands, a bunch of money and a bird nest… the tree was up.
So as I stood there at the grocery store {where they sold Christmas Trees and gave the profits to Charity} I fell in love with the biggest, largest, most beautiful tree E.V.E.R! It was a 15 Foot Tree… and the proceeds were going to charity, so what-the-hey!
6:30PM – I went to
Publix got this HUGE tree, I had spotted it at lunchtime and knew that if they still had it after work, that I was going to buy it and surprise John when he came home from his business trip. The nice man loaded it up on top of the Wedding Mobile, and I proceeded to drive 2 miles an hour home
7:00PM- With the tree bottom bobbin’ up and down the top of the tree can be seen from the rearview mirror of the car – I am telling you it was huge!!! I get home and Chris and I roll it off the car, and then roll it into the back yard.
Chris gets out the chain saw and cuts at good 6 inches off the bottom. So that this huge tree can suck up all the water it wants.
7:30PM- Then we trim some of those pesky bottom branches, I run up into the attic get the handy tree stand down. And then we attempt to get the bottom of the tree into the plastic stand. Of course I was worried that it is not going to fit in the stand, and viola it fits!!!
Horary! Then we bring it in the house through the back, and attempt to get it upright, and then as we are heeving and hooeing all of a sudden the tree stand, bends in half!!! CRAP!
8:30PM- Okay, so dinner at 9:00… right! WRONG! Then Chris and I leave for Wal-Mart and buy a handy dandy new stand made for large trees, since we measured the base of the tree at about 5 3/4 inches we knew that it would fit, and it said it was made for a large trees up to 12' tall {what’s 3 feet amongst tree-friends}, okay, so we get it home and this time I go over to our neighbors house, and ask if he can help us get the heavy tree into the stand.
9:00PM - No dinner yet, Shane and Chris get the tree into the stand and up it goes and it all looks good, and we hear a settling noise, like the tree is settling into the stand, and then a loud crack-bam-craacckkkkk and then again a loud crack, the plastic stand, broke, cracked in half!!!!
Okay, so now I am frustrated and a bit peeved! I am going to get this dag gom tree up tonight if it is the death of me... We leave and go to the Christmas Tree place on the side of the road, and there is a sign that says "No Fall tree stand, the last stand you will ever have to buy, guarteed to be straight every time, takes 30 second to put up", okay so I ask the guy about it, and he says that he is closed. And started to walk away.
I proceed to say, “PUHLEASE All I need is a Christmas Tree stand! And He makes a face and says that everything is put away!” And I start working on the tears! Here they come, and then he pulls out this stand, that looks like the one my parents used in 1954 or maybe 1979, either way I was desperate!!
I said okay, what ever it costs no problem, I buy the stand, and then we bring it back to the house, and then Chris cannot find John's drill bits.{Remember, John is out of town and I wanted to suprise him with this glorious tree}
9:30PM- I am knocking on other neighbors doors asking if they have drill bits that will fit this tree, 5/8" drill bits, he did…, and then tada we had to bang it in with a hammer for about 5 minutes, okay it went in and then we put up the tree and then take down the twine that it holding it together, and then the tree is up!!
Well sort of, it is too wide now for the part of the living room we put it in, so I get the hedge trimmers and start tearing away at the back of tree so that the branches are not hitting the windows
10:30PM - We ate dinner, then I got enough energy to finishing trimming the bottom so that I could vacuum the carpet, because you know half the pine needles in the world were on the floor!
Then what do I see….a bird's nest in the tree, honestly, we just left it there, all Christmas!
So that is the story of the 15’ Christmas Tree, bigger isn’t always better.
PS- That stand - well the plastic dish underneath it broke, and then all of the water slowly leaked out and molded up our carpet... we had to replace all of our carpet in that room. All thanks to my dream of having a tall tree.
I wish you and yours and easy, relaxing, stress free Holiday Season!
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