Decking Duffield's Halls

After yoga this morning, I made Corey put pants on (I went to yoga wearing pants while Corey stayed home NOT wearing pants) and drive down the street to the tree guy, who was miraculously open for business! The man immediately bombarded us with questions, his white bowl cut flopping around in his excitement. He ran up and down the aisles of trees, practically pulling us along with him as his yellow rubber overalls squeaked like crazy.

"What do you want? I'll show you anything you want!!!"

Did we want a Douglas Fir? One that smelled like oranges? How about an expensive one? No, no, no. We just wanted an inexpensive, alive tree, please.

It turns out there is a lot to know about tree purchasing. Like do we want a fresh cut on the bottom so it drinks more water? We decided yes. Did we want to use string or bungees to strap it to the roof? We chose bungees, since we were only going 2 blocks up the hill. Also, do you tip the Christmas tree man? I felt like yes, so we gave him $2.

I felt kind of sad for the tree man because he was so socially awkward, but Corey said the man was just rural and rural people are like that. Who knows why Corey says these things? Either way, we got this lovely beauty home and set up in the tree stand the previous owners had thankfully left behind. (The one good thing!)

To decorate, I used all the ornaments I've had my whole life, plus a few juicy ones that Corey's mom gave me. Because of the wonders of public school, Corey made this:

Such yarn! Such painted macaroni! I love it almost as much as I love him. I can't wait until someday our own children have painted macaroni ornaments hanging next to their father's.

My elementary school was clearly more crafty. I made ornaments using felt, glitter, and glue. This bell is Corey's favorite of mine, which my mother donated. It features me giving what was then my biggest, brightest smile:


Because Corey was being such a curmudgeon, I played several albums of Christmas music while I decorated. He hates such music, so I helped myself to some loud singing along with Nat Cole and finished off the house by decorating our gazing ball with this fine hat:


I feel so much better about life now!