Shopping for a Xmas Tree – OC Style

When I was a kid, and while in college as an adult, it was not unusual to get bundled up, carry hot cocoa in thermoses (might not have been cocoa in college….but I digress), and head out into the woods to cut down our Christmas Tree.  Although I was born in Southern California, I moved to Oregon when I was 11.

I moved back to Orange County in 1998.  I still miss having real seasonal changes – yes, including the rain.  This is the time of year that I struggle living in Orange County just a bit.

When we moved back to the OC, my father promised me and Michael (my husband), that we would in fact, go pick out our tree and cut it down.  We did – sans thermos and winter coats.  It was a tree farm off the 133 and the 5 freeway.  You weren’t allowed to cut it down yourself either, but you did get to watch them do it.  Close, but not exactly the same thing.

This year was like many recent years – the Home Depot parking lot.  Nearly every year we skirt around a marital encounter as I pick out trees for Michael to hold up so I can judge the fullness, symmetry, and the like.  He has the patience of a saint as I stand back, analyze the choice and ultimately decide that isn’t the one.  He assures me he’s happy to help me find just the right one that I like.

So today, I looked around at guys holding trees for their gals and for a moment I swear it was a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit.  Those poor husbands and boyfriends nodding to one another, a show of understanding and encouragement, and the ladies analyzing the tree as if it’s a fixture in their home for the next 3 years instead of 3 weeks, and I knew it was time to go.  At that moment the one Michael held, became the one. “That’s it, let’s go!”

I packed my 3 thrilled kids into the car, Michael loaded the tree on top, and I turned on the A/C – it was a little warm, ya know…

I noticed the tree has a pretty significant hole, but we have that part facing the wall.