Artificial vs. Real

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the tree. I love having a beautifully decorated tree in a corner in my home for weeks at a time. I love looking at all the ornaments and decorations I've collected over the years. I rarely buy a whole box of ornaments. Instead I have normally chosen each one individually or have been given one by someone special in my life. And one of the things I've always loved the most about the Christmas tree is the smell.
Well, last year my husband Steve and I finally determined that I was getting seriously ill every year because of the real trees in the house! I was devastated! No more real trees for me until God heals me of these allergies (which are constant all year round, but are better than they used to be.)
So this year I had to find an artificial tree that I could live with - in regards to price, but most of all in regards to appearance. After seeing $100 or more for a 6.5 foot tree at both Target and Kmart I was about to give up on a tree this year. Then I stopped into Home Depot to pick up a rug cleaning machine (a story yet to be blogged about) when I realized there was a display of very nice trees behind me. I walked over expecting another $100 or more price tag only to be surprised to find a beautiful 6.5 foot tree with lights for only $50!!! I looked the display over carefully and decided I could live with it. I purchased it, squeezed it into my Dodge Neon, got the rug cleaning machine squeezed in as well and happily drove home.
Three days later I was ready to put up this nice, new tree. What I thought would only take a few minutes took almost TWO HOURS!!!!!!!!!! First you have to unpack these tree pieces that you'd think were golden the way they were packaged. And once you get the tree put together you now have to "arrange" the branches! HUH?!?! Come ON now! I have to do this EVERY YEAR?! So I labored and fussed and twittered and finally got the thing to look halfway decent. Except for the 3-4 inch lean to the left. No matter how I turned the stupid thing, it leaned. Maybe it was the floor or the stand. Nope. No such luck. At least the lights worked!
Then Steve walks in. "It's leaning pretty badly." Yeah. I know. I know you just got home, but can you please help me?" Of course the first thing he does is turn it and move it on the floor. Well DUH! I'd never have thought of those things! "It's still leaning." "Yeah. I know." "Well, it'll just have to lean." Grrrrrr!!!
So now I'm trying to figure out how to decorate this thing where the lean won't show so badly. But I'm tired and cranky and decide it will wait until tomorrow. Instead we go to our fav Thai restaurant for dinner and then take a walk along the beach before coming home.
Miraculously, somehow the lean is gone! Hmmmm..... I wonder what happened here? So now it's time to decorate. I'm tired, don't feel 100% and now I have to decorate the tree all by myself. No smells. Only memories of Zoe (my dog), and Michele (my daughter) and Noah (my grandson). Zoe died a few months ago at the age of 14. Michele and Daniel (her husband) and Noah moved to Virginia last January. And the only Christmas songs playing on the satellite station are making me even more weepy!
After several breaks I finally get the tree all decorated. If I do say so myself, it doesn't look half bad. I do have a lot of practice at it by now. :) And after standing back and really studying it, I guess having an artificial tree isn't all that bad. I can do without the scents. But I have to say that I'm not looking forward to trying to take this thing out of its box next year and put it back together again! At least now I'll know to plan on an hour or more!
So what about you... Do you have a tree? If so, is it real or is it artificial? What's your favorite part of the holidays? Post a comment and let me know.
And for my Jewish friends out there, have a WONDERFUL Chanukah!!!