Just Simply Holly

For all but one of the 17 years that my husband and I have been together, we have had an artificial Christmas tree.  The main reason is because of the fact that I enjoy putting my tree up as early as possible, usually the week of Thanksgiving, if not the weekend before.  After Christmas last year I ended up tossing the artificial tree that I had used for several years, it was obvious that it was not in the best shape when I took it down.

My plan was to simply purchase a new artificial tree this year, but when I said something to my daughter about it she begged me to get a real tree this year instead.  I told her that I just didn’t think that was something I was interested in doing because of what happened the last time I had a real tree.  She, of course, wanted to know what happened, so I told her.  Several months AFTER Christmas, in the middle of summer, I went to walk out the front door of our home.  I was barefoot, as I am for most of the summer, and as my foot crossed the threshold of the door it “found” a single needle from the real Christmas tree that we had put up the past Christmas, that had lodged itself into the threshold of the door.  It was instant and extreme pain and at that moment I swore that I would NEVER have another live Christmas tree!

Of course, I  should have know to never say never…LOL!  We sat down as a family and I was out voted 3 to 1, meaning that this year we will have a real Christmas tree.  It’s not that I’m unwilling to try a real tree again, it’s just the fact that I love having my tree up earlier than is possible when you have a live tree.  Like I said, I usually put mine up the week of Thanksgiving and it usually stays up until mid January.  I LOVE looking at the Christmas tree, it’s one of the most peaceful feelings!  If we have a real tree it means that it can’t go up until a week before Christmas and that it will come down shortly after Christmas.  And I’m one of those people that when the tree comes down, ALL of the Christmas decorations come down as well.  But, I was out voted, so there isn’t much I can do about it.  Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, and hey, you never know, I might actually like having a real tree more!