Monday, December 1, 2008

Real or False?????


This Christmas will be the 15th Christmas that Shawn and I have celebrated as a married couple. Of those 15 Christmases, all but two have included a live (real) tree. On the 2 occasions we had false (artificial) trees, we had no choice and really hated the tree. Each of us seperately came to the conclusion that we NEVER wanted a false tree and are glad that we both agree. For Shawn, it is hard enough to even buy a tree from a nursery as he cut down his own trees almost all of his life. And, I must admit the best tree experiences I've ever had have come from the times we cut down our own tree. (My favorite being when Shawn was so enamored with a tree that was HUGE. It was so huge that it took several members of the University of Idaho football team to help him carry it out. We also had to cut several feet off just to get it to fit in our apartment and had greens for EVERYONE who wanted any. ) Our real trees are gorgeous, smell beautiful, and are one of our family's favorite part of Christmas. They are, however, not without mishap. There was the cat climbing the tree incident which resulted in numerous broken ornaments and a VERY wet carpet, the time we didn't know the\at soft needled trees dried out so fast- and resulted in a very crispy tree we had to take down the day after Christmas, and my personal favorite- a visit to a tree farm where the paint the trees to look green. (No joke, the trees were orange in the summer and they paint them green- even the bark is green- it's the u-cut place on the way to Rochester for those of you in the area).

As for false trees, they are not without their own amusing stories. I have 1 brother who for years would simply store his false tree already decorated in the closet. On December 1st he pulled it out and plugged it in, on January 1st he put it back in the closet. As a child our dog managed to knock our tree down several times and I know of family who used the plastic white tree that has no needles-only lights on the branches- the kind meant for your front lawn as their tree because their cats climbed the false tree they kept in their house and knocked it over too many times.

So which are you doing this year and why? Have a great tree story? Share it here, I'd love to hear it.

10 comments:

Shawn said...

The tree wasn't really THAT big - I just capitalized on the resources that were available in the form of manpower.

My favorite memories are of the warm cocoa that always follows.

Nessa said...

We have an artificial tree and we are just fine with it! After all a Great Dane marking his territory of a big, pine scented, fresh, tree...well, it just isn't worth it to me!

TStevens said...

I was hoping for a post on boobies when I read the title. Very disappointed!

Anonymous said...

I sure HOPE you're commenting on Scott.

My tree was always disassembled and reassembled and decorated every year.

Chris

Unknown said...

We had real trees growing up and I was he one who had to water it and vacuum the needles up and I hated the sap that would sometimes drip over anything under it. I am an artificial tree fan go artificial. Never needs water and no sap. YEA!!!! Also not destroying the door trim when you pull it through the doors is a bonus.

meredith said...

Sorry Tstevens and Chris, do you remember the "tree closet" in your first apt. I saw you pull that out and put it away all decorated with the blue musical instruments. Sorry, it is totally you I'm talking about!

Anonymous said...

You're misremembering.
It was in the closet... boxed up.
I still HAVE that tree.

it wouldn't fit in the closet any other way.

Grandpa and Grandma B said...

Gee David this must show the difference in our ages I thought she was probably talking about Teeth.

meredith said...

Chris I remember seeing it in your closet all ready to go......
Bremners- that's so funny b/c that's where Shawn came up with false trees- he said they reminded him of false teeth- they still work and do a great job, but they aren't the same as real ones, and you can always tell they are not quite right.

TStevens said...

Teeth on boobies - Lisa says that is ALWAYS a bad idea!