First Fir

Now there is something to be said for having two debt-free vehicles. However, a slight problem arises when the Christmas season arrives. Both of our vehicles are cars. I have always wanted my first Christmas tree to be a live one. However, when one of our vehicles succombed to a couple seizures and we were told it was going to cost over $500 to fix we decided our Christmas tree would be the artificial kind since we have one boxed up in the closet. But after seeing my sister's real tree I could hardly wait to get my own.

We went down the street and looked at all the trees for sale. I picked out a few trees that I really liked and realized they were like $50. So we went towards the back to the rejects and I found the perfect one for $15. Almost 7 feet tall and very well filled out, I asked Jason if we could get it. Now here was the problem. Jasper, our 4 door 1997 Ford Escort with about 50 dents/dings and a couple different paint colors, can barely hold three people much less a 7 foot Christmas tree. Jay, tired of watching me try to find the PERFECT tree, assured me that we could get it in our small car.

Doubtful, I followed him as he picked up the cold tree and hauled it toward the check out counter. Our prickly purchase was thrown roughly into a machine that wrapped it up tight in a net. Granted, it was much skinnier now that all the branches were wrapped up, but that didn't make it difference in the height. I laughed as we hauled the oversized tree to our car. Jasper probably groaned when he saw us coming. I slid the tree stand on the back floorboard and started rolling down the window on the back door. He was right. He got it to fit. He just failed to tell me we would be driving a "hillbilly-mobile." It felt like a cartoon or something. My knees were jammed up to my chin with the heat blowing full blast since two of the four windows were down and we had a good 15 minute drive home. The tree's trunk was sticking out about a foot on the driver's side and the top of the tree was sticking out more than a foot on the passenger side. I called my dad and told him I was stuck in the car with a mad man. It was rather fun though. There is something delightful about getting ready for Christmas.

Now, as I write this, our first Christmas tree stands in the corner decorated with white and globe lights. There are 21 gold jingle bells and 6 gold glass balls, some gold garland and a white, gold and frosted glass star at the top. It's not the most beautiful tree I've ever seen but it's our first one, and I love it.