Friday, December 24, 2010
The Christmas Tree Fiasco 2010
I said I'd write about it, so I had better get it done before Christmas. I'm afraid that I've left you waiting too long, and now it won't be as interesting but here goes.

When I got home from my trip I was anxious to get a tree, since the Christmas season was half over. We had plans to go to a tree farm. There are several in the surrounding Winnipeg area and we were told that they were fun, with sleigh rides and hot chocolate and big bonfires. So I got me and the kids bundled up and ready go. Just as we were leaving Kyle decided to give a couple of the farms a call and much to our dismay, they were all sold out of trees. Who ever heard of such a thing? So, we decided we'd go check out some of the mall parking lots because we had noticed that they were selling trees too. The first one we went to they guy told us the trees under six feet were $35 and the ones bigger ranged from $40-60 depending on how nice they were. I was surprised and I said to Kyle "let's go go some where else. That's too expensive.

Little did I know.

We went to Superstore, thinking we'd just get one from there. My dreams of having a fabulous tree were already deflated somewhat, since I'm used to the fun of going out to a tree farm and paying $25 for the tree of my choice, so I was kind of like "whatever, we'll get a cheaper tree from Superstore." But the trees at Superstore were $40!!! I couldn't believe it! $40 for some tree that was wrapped up and you didn't even know what it looked like?? So we decided to go to another parking lot stand that we knew of. By this time the kids were getting tired of being thrown in and out of the car and trudging through stores. We told them we were getting a tree and they wanted a tree.

At the next lot the prices ranged from $50-60, surprise surprise. We were defeated. Some of the trees were cheaper because of bare spots and things, so we got our tree for $45. Personally I would have gone back to the first place and got a 35 dollar one that was under six ft. I don't need a tall tree. But Kyle was done with me and my tree issues, so we got that one and came home.

We had a HARD time getting it to stand up straight in our tree stand. We thought we got it in good at one point. Then when Sloan was in bed, I got out the lights to put them on. Out of four strings of lights none of them worked!!!! I have no idea why they would all stop working at once. We had already looked around for some lights when we were out and most places were almost sold out and the ones they did have were the really expensive kind. I didn't need the expensive ones! I just wanted some regular lights. Too much to ask?

Kyle bought some lights on his way home from school. I had my achievement activity that night. Kyle had young mens. On the way home Adriel was asking and had been asking all day if we could decorate the tree. I usually do that by myself, but I knew i wouldn't get away with it this year. So I suggested that we put Sloan to bed and I'd let him stay up a little later than usual and we'd have a special time just the two of us, decorating the tree.

But first I had to get the lights on. While I was putting the lights on, the tree started to fall. I tried to fix it and couldn't. All Adriel wanted to do was put his sparkly train decoration on and he was really bugging me about it the whole time. So I let him put the train on and then I put him to bed.

Then the tree and I really got into it. I got down and I tried shoving the screw things hard into the tree while holding the tree up with one arm (which is ideally a two person job) I was struggling and sweating and to no avail. The whole thing just fell over. The water from watering it was all over the floor, there were needles everywhere and I acknowledged that I couldn't do it by myself. Sometimes I wonder how people survive without a man in their house. If I was a single mom, the tree would have never gone up. So I called Kyle and in panic mode asked when he was going to be home. He came home and stuggled with it for a while and we decided that it's just a lop-sided tree and it was throwing our tree stand off balance. So Kyle went outside and dug through the snow to find a heavy rock, brought it back in and covered it in a plastic bag and thunked it on the back side of our tree stand. It worked but the tree is still lopsided and tilted and it bugs me.

 I felt like a Christmas loser.

6 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:08 AM

Comments:
lol. Stott, so you have a lopsided tree! Just go with it. Work with it. That tree deserves to be loved too! It's funny, we had a similar experience with our tree. We ended up shoving in chunks of a 2x4 to help it stand upright. Poor stott. It doesn't sound like you're having a stottle ottle Christmas!
 
lol when i went tree shopping with lisa i was shocked to find out how much the trees cost. i was sworn to secrecy on how much she spent, so that'll give you a clue. i can picture the whole scene, the christmas lights that don't work, the pestering of perlunky, the tree falling despite your feverish attempts--the frustration of it all and yet it's funny at the same time. but the burt bear of christmas wouldn't like this christmas loser talk. no no he wouldn't.
 
hey, my tree is slanted too, no matter what we do! Don't feel bad about the lop-sidedness. That's one of the things about getting a Real tree, rather than a plastic one (which aren't beautiful, no matter what people say...). At least you've got the scent of it in your house! Oh, and me and Shawn have a tree stand that has 8 points that go in to the tree, not just four - I think it's a lot more stable. Anyways, you just know that this will be a story you'll tell the kids and laugh about later. Happy Christmas Eve!!!!
 
that is hilarious! I can't believe you usually get a Christmas Tree Farm tree for $25! Here they are $50. I stopped getting them when they went up to $40. We get ours from a local store that has local trees so they are as fresh as possible without cutting it down yourself.
 
I laughed so hard at this Sarah! Oh, the perfect Christmas scenes that we envision - and somehow it never works out the way we plan. I gave up on my "perfect family togetherness decorating tree" plan this year, and just let the kids have at 'er (using plastic ornaments, then it didn't matter the number of times they were ripped off the tree and thrown across the room) It hurt a little to give up on the dream though! :)
 
lol awesome tree story. Good on you for not giving up. Although if i paid that much for a tree i couldn't justify giving up either. when did trees get so expensive????
 
Post a Comment

other blogs

Karey
Bertuns
Amesie
Andree-dee
laurbee
Traveling CareBear

Archives

August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
December 2007
January 2008
March 2008
April 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
December 2012
January 2013
February 2013
May 2013
June 2013
July 2013
October 2013
November 2013
December 2013