Google Website Translator Gadget

Monday, November 29, 2010

Adventures in Gift and Christmas Tree Shopping

Hello Friends.

How was your weekend? I'm ready to go back to work so I can rest!

After perusing the Black Friday ads on Thursday, I decided none of the Door Busters were calling my name so there was no reason to go out at 4:30. However, there were some all-day sales that caught my eye.

This left me with a decision to make. Do I go out later on Friday and run the risk of my items of interest being out-of-stock or do I go out at midnight... It was crowded at midnight, but the crowds weren't aggressive like they are during the Door Buster Sales. I was home by two and was able to sleep Friday until I was ready to get up, around eight.

Friday afternoon, Jordan, Joel and I went out to lunch and then on to Cackler Family Farms to pick out our Christmas tree.

The boys...um men agreed to pose for a picture.

Cackler Farms' Nativity.

We're off to find the perfect tree.

We searched high and low through muddy rows
while trying to avoid the open fields as it was
cold and blustery.

We finally found this 7 foot white pine.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

I'd like to say we strapped the tree to the roof of the car and had an uneventful 20 mile drive back to Marion. Yep, I'd like to be able to say that.... The men did get the tree strapped down to the roof of the car using rope and bungee cords. Jordan was a seasoned veteran after all.

Did I mention it was blustery???

Stop #1: The tree was sliding down the roof of the car towards the trunk. The men repositioned the tree and tightened the straps thus squishing the tree limbs. We opened the inside panel to the sunroof so we could keep an eye on the tree.

Stop #2: The wind was still lifting the tree up. The men got out of the car and again and tightened the straps harder. Jordan got in the back seat and held the straps taut.

Stop #3: Where's the tree! I screamed when I looked up to the sunroof to see blue sky. This is about the time my Christmas spirit wore off and I used a few words I try hard not to use. You've got to be kidding me. We've never had these issues before.

By now, the netting was all but off the tree. We had no choice but to try to cram this 7 foot fat Christmas tree, with no netting, into the trunk of my mid-size Pontiac G6. Can you guess what happens to a 7 foot fat Christmas tree with no netting when it is crammed into the trunk of a Pontiac G6??? Let me clue you in...branches break and the perfect top for my Christmas star gets broken off....BUT it makes it home.

The men were silent. Once we were safely back on the road, I started giggling. I think the men thought I finally went around the bend, but I told them this is a perfect story for the blog.


I will be linking to Blue Monday , Mosaic Monday , and Outdoor Wednesday.  I will also be linking to Marcia's Christmas in July 

32 comments:

  1. So beautiful and so worth the trip and trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning La, great story for your blog. Love the photo of the two "boys" framed with the big wreath and ribbon. The tree looks wonderful, do you not find that with central heating that it loses a lot of the greenery by Christmas Eve? We don't usually have a tree but if we did I wouldn't get it until the weekend before Christmas. Also I would get fed up with seeing it for so long!!!I love to see everyone else's though. I love walking round the neighbourhood and looking in peoples windows and outside with their decorations. Some are a bit OTT but they like it and it makes the area a lot more Christmassy!!

    Jackie in Surrey, UK.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Laughter is made by blogging about unhappy times! Love the blue.

    Happy Blue Monday, La!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great shots.

    Family Bonding in the kitchen is my share for Blue Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I the Memories of Tree hunting came flooding back. Your tree star still looks nice.
    A Fun Festive Time

    ReplyDelete
  6. It sounds like a 'Grizwald' Christmas. I love that movie. It looks very pretty, and worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It looks great. Hope the shopping went well. Have a wonderful week.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the blue sweatshirt. Looks like you all had a great day to remember. Happy Blue Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wonderful story! Your tree is lovely and we would never have known about the broken branches or missing top just by looking :) Have a blessed week! ~hugs~

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello La,
    this exiting story makes the tree even more lovely as it already was. It looks so wonderful with all the lights and Christmas ornaments, I am sure you have a lot of fun with it.
    Greetings, Johanna

    ReplyDelete
  11. We haven't cut our own tree in years. We used to bundle the boys up and take them to the tree farm. The farmer would take us back to the fields in a wagon. The boys just loved to pick the perfect specimen and then we would drag it back out to the truck and go home for a warm cocoa. That was such fun.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a fun memory ~ The tree looks beautiful in spite of it's troubled trip home ..lol
    Happy Monday from Savannah, Cherry

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well it is beautiful and your story sounds like something that would happen to us. We used to have the biggest arguments about the Christmas tree. Now we have an artificial tree and no more problems. I do miss the smell of that real tree!

    ReplyDelete
  14. My goodness what an adventure. After all that--the tree still looks wonderful.
    Have a great week.
    Jeanette

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful tree and funny story! So glad you saw the humor in the situation!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Quite the adventure! When you said you couldn't see it through the sun roof I pictured a Mary Poppins Tree upside down flying through the air! Glad you made it home safely and the tree looks great (Not a sign of trauma to be seen:@)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Haha-- and that is another reason I go the fake route!!! Just hauling the fake one to and from an outbuilding is tricky! Fun post and beautiful tree!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your tree looks no worse for the wear and I am glad you had a good laugh over it. It really is a beautiful tree and you have it decorated so pretty! Love the story!

    XO,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fantastic! Perfect size too, that is the size we have, but mine is faux...shhh...I sprayed snow on it. You decorated it so lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi La,
    That is too funny!! That would so be our family luck! At least you finally got the tree home and it looks absolutely beautiful!!~ Thanks so much for always stopping by my blog and leaving such lovely comments, I really do appreciate it!
    Have a lovely day.
    Sincerely,
    Melinda

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, that is funny! What an adventure! It looks beautifully decorated. You will remember that always. One year we had a small tree in our even smaller house and husband is on the phone talking to an agent about (of all things!) life insurance. The two oldest boys who were then like three and two got under the tree and knocked it completely over..while my husband is screaming to the life insurance agent that he has to go and abruptly hangs up. The children continued to play under that tree that year and knocked it over for a total of 7 times. We still laugh about it. Have a great week La.
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi La,

    You gave me a good laugh! We do the fake route and just spray "smell of Christmas tree".

    hugs,
    Barb

    ReplyDelete
  23. I had forgotten about the joys of real live Christmas tree shopping. We have a fake one now, but used to have some fun(?) times getting real ones before. Never tried to leave one on the road before though.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Your tree is beautiful and you have the best story to tell forever!! Thanks for the smiles!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fun times! I always thought I'd have a fresh tree when I had a house of my own, but it seems I am destined to live with practical people lol.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hahaha. It still looks gorgeous though.

    http://ficklecattle.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi La, Your tree is just beautiful. Alot of work. You guys did a wonderful job. *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  28. A Christmas tree outing to remember for years to come! Ha!!!
    Makes me feel a little better about our outing last night. Thanks for sending me some cheer!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi La!
    I saw your comment on Jen's blog about having an only child...I have one too! Thought I would come check out your blog...and then I see your from Marion...I'm from Mansfield! I moved away after college and live in PA now, but my family still is in good old Mansfield!

    ReplyDelete
  30. It's good to see that there was a happy ending!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Fun, fun, fun. Looks like you made great memories and the tree is beautiful. I love it.

    Thanks for linking up with White Christmas in July. I was happy to see you joining in.
    XOXO

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi I love your story about your trip home with the tree. Makes it even better and I can understand you bursting into laughter. Its a great looking tree all decorated up.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Please feel free to leave a comment. I read every message and appreciate that you took the time to say hello.

See you soon! La