The Great Christmas Tree Debate

I grew up in a "fake" Christmas tree household. As long as I can remember, I never had a real Christmas tree when I was growing up. Not that it really was a huge deal, but the second I had my own home, I vowed to never have a fake tree again....until now.

That's probably 20 Christmases, with my own family, that we have bought real Christmas trees. We have had huge ones, skinny ones, weirdly shaped ones, gorgeous ones, and ones that were uniquely ours in every way. And I have loved them all. They have fallen and smashed ornaments, not once but twice, they have smelled heavenly and they have brought us lots of joy and Christmas cheer. They have also created huge messes. Pine needles everywhere, water stains from spilling, scratches on the ceiling and doors and become an all over big pain in the rump. Especially when they are a complete fire hazard around the 4th or 5th of January.  I used to love to tour the Xmas tree lot, spying that perfect specimen to bring home and lovingly adorn with my Christmas memories. But now?

This year I feel differently. My "fake" Christmas tree moratorium has been lifted. I have been to friends homes recently and seen some gorgeous trees! When they told me they were fake I could hardly believe it so I did a bunch of research on the new fangled fake trees out there. They come with lights already on them?? OMG, this is truly a bonus, and there are so many shapes and sizes to choose from I could hardly decide. And they are beautiful! You can choose what kind of tree you want, like what the actual branches look like and if you want that realistic look, you can get ones that are snow covered and have pine cones. My Guy and I chose ours online, and are picking it up this afternoon and I can't wait to see it. We are thrilled and I couldn't wait to share the good news with Frick and Frack!

Big mistake..

Frick and Frack who both live in other states most of the year are not happy with this Christmas tree development. "No mom! That's disgusting!" Frick said. Disgusting I thought? That's a wee bit extreme. (God bless my baby girl, she is an actor after all.) Frack doesn't love the idea either, so I asked them if they wanted to be the ones to remove the tree from the house and clean up the mess...

Radio silence...

Just what I expected.

In any case, a fake tree it is in this house and I'm looking forward to meeting the new addition to our family. In the meantime I told my kids what every good, loving and caring parent tells their children to avoid disappointment. I said, "I'll buy you some pine tree scented spray. It will be fine."

Christmas Cut Off

So when is the legal Christmas cut off? And by that I mean, when is it the proper time to remove Christmas from your home after the holiday is a wrap? no pun intended...

I'm driving home last night and I see two, count them, TWO houses on my street with full on holiday, ho ho ho...Christmas tree still up, lights on the trees outside and candles in the window. Is this legal? Isn't there some committee made up of Rotary League women, who smell like Estee Lauder and knit coasters for their antique tables that decide how long is proper for Christmas displays to be up? Today is Jan. 18th for goodness sake, and I know that, for me, Christmas 2010 is nothing but a distant memory at this point.

There are those that would argue that the Christmas displays must remain up until "Little Christmas" has passed, but a quick Internet check tells me that this too, has come and gone. Now don't get me wrong, people can do whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes. After all, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. I even will go out on a limb and say that I kind of like driving by and looking at the beautiful lights and especially the Christmas tree, since my tree is long gone. But how long is too long?

There's the wreath rule. The wreath rule states that, "after the Christmas holiday is observed the holiday wreath hung on the door must remain until the dawn of February." I don't know if that's true, because I just made it up, but that's what I always believed. But the tree and everything else? After the second week of January, it just begins to looks stale to me and I know I don't live in the swamps of Mississippi, where the Redneck rule is to leave it up all year so that you are ready come next year. So what gives?

Is it laziness or longing-ness? Do people want to stretch out the joy of the holiday and enjoy the beauty for one more day..too long, or are they so busy/lazy that they have no time?
What do you think bloggers??

Today's Special: Tacky Dandy Host

So no Glee recap today, as I work for a living and I was tinkering away until 11 pm last night. So tacky.

But I do have a mini holiday treat for you today, on this, the first day of December. When I was a little girl, I loved to drive around the neighborhood with my parents and marvel in the Christmas lights. I would ASSume that in the home that had no light in the windows, lived a "Jewish" family, as that's how my little girl brain seemed to wrap around that concept. So tacky.

Well for all us tacky Christmas light lovers, I found a fun website that shows you where you can find all that tackiness to show your kids out on a family drive. (what ever happened to the family drive?) There are interactive maps that will guide you in your state to go out and behold all the wonder. Hee hee...so tacky.

Some people are so ingenious..

www.tackylighttour.com

Tracers By The Trans-Siberian Orchestra from Don Krasley on Vimeo.