Tree Envy

I'm not a huge one for Christmas decorations. We don't go overboard with the lights outside (whoever invented those Christmas light nets is a fricking genius) and just have a few strings of garland over the door to finish off the outside decorations. But, I take my Christmas tree hunt very seriously.

My father and I have it down to a science: we always go to the same place every year and we always say that we're going to spend a reasonable amount. My mom asks us not to get a huge tree, but we don't usually listen. Invariably every tree we look at sucks and we spend an hour pulling and shaking out every tree at the place, trying to find a good one. Then we wander into the $60 section, where the 9 foot trees are hidden (our ceilings are only 8 feet). Of course, that's where the full trees are and we end up getting on of those and spend thirty minutes in the cold, trying to find where we can trim this down so that it will fit into the house and still fit the Santa that goes on top. It's a fine system and it works.

But this year was different. We started down the first aisle, not seeing anything. We cut across to the second aisle and spotted a beautiful tree leaning in the front of the pile. My dad pulled it out to get a better look at it, where I expected to see a huge gap or something. Nope. We looked it up and down, spun it in every direction. It was perfect. We were both stunned. Now, with all shopping comes buyer's remorse, so before we paid for it I wanted to take a quick walk around the lot and see if anything else caught my eye. There was an old guy hanging around behind my dad, ready to pounce if he let go of the tree. I made a quick spin around the place, couldn't find anything better and we had our Christmas tree. As we were bringing it to the front to get a fresh cut, I heard the guy who wanted our tree say "That's a nice tree. Really nice." Yep, and you can't have it (Christmas Spirit at it's finest).

Here's the best part: it was in the $40 section. I'm completely convinced this was wrong and it should have been in the $60 section, but I wasn't about to question it. So, a process that usually takes an hour and $60, took about 15 minutes and $40 bucks and it might be the nicest tree we've had in years. It's a Christmas miracle...