It's a Tree!

Swooop! We got a bunch of Christmas done on Sunday. Our daughter had an hour and a half between shows, and my husband was recovering from working about a million days in a row, so I told him to just rest. Daughter and I left the theatre after the matinee, dropped off her friend, and drove to Rona (where my husband said I could find a low-priced and good tree).

At first we were discouraged. There were beautiful $50 trees over to one side which we avoided, then in the middle there were all of these bound and gagged $22 trees, wound up with twine. When we finally got the guy to cut some of the twine, the branches were still reaching straight up, so how could you tell? What's worse, the guy told me, "Sorry, I won't help you tie the tree on your car. I can put it on your roof, but you have to tie it." We just about left in frustration, but then we saw it - about 6 and a half tall and fat and bushy as a groundhog. That was our tree! Luckily Mr. "Don't ask me for help" was busy with somebody buying a $50 tree and a nice young woman offered to help us. She cut off all of the straggly branches near the bottom of the trunk and gave it a fresh cut, then she carried it to our car and helped me tie it down. I don't have a roof rack so I cracked open the window and we threaded the twine in and out and around the trunk of the tree. My only mistake was firmly tying my driver's side door shut, so I had to climb in from the passenger side (d-oh!)

We thought pure thoughts as we drove down the highway, imagining the darn thing slithering off and getting pulverized under the car behind us. Luckily we made it. I even put it up in the living room as soon as we got home. Then we grabbed a bite to eat and I hauled the actor-girl back to the theatre.

Now we have a naked tree and a glorious-smelling house. We'll all be home for supper and after on Tuesday so we'll put on the lights and the ornaments. Then it will be Christmas for real.

(Later Sunday I wrapped and parcelled everything for the post office to go to Cranbrook and Rupert, then I made a bunch of birthday cards - some belated.)

Question: What did you tie to your car?

mompoet: super-speedy express tree chooser, deliverer and erector