T-I-M-B-E-R...Now I know why lumberjacks say that...

Ever been fast asleep to hear your Christmas tree come crashing down, ornaments and all!?! You think it's just a dream, right? Maybe more like a NIGHTMARE! Well, do I have a story for you. The reason lumberjacks yell T-I-M-B-E-R (in my opinion) is that when trees come down, they really come crashing down! You better get the hell outta the way, and fast. Thank goodness I had finished decorating and wasn't sitting on the floor staring at the tree! That thing could've killed me. So, 3 in the morning. I had finally crawled into bed around 2:30 after spending hours decorating our tree. (It was already the 8th of December and our tree had been sitting in our den, butt-naked since Friday.) It needed to be taken care of before it drove us both crazy. I had just fallen asleep when this all happened and I laid there thinkin, 'Dear Lord, please tell me that wasn't the tree!!!' Todd knew exactly what had happened and tried to tell me something else must've fallen in the kitchen. I was completely out of it but I knew he was trying to spare my feelings and frustration...but the tears started flowin.

Last year's tree: Douglas Fir - kinda short and stumpy...

We set out on our tree search last Friday night after a crazy busy week of work - both completely exhausted, but anxious to get a tree. 30 degrees before factoring in the wind. *The tree is one of my favorite things about Christmas btw - I will sit and stare at it for hours and look at all the ornaments, even though I've seen the same ones since I was a child.* So, we picked the coldest night we've had this winter to go find the 'perfect' tree. As we stood there freezing our hineys off at Home Depot, trying to decide which type of tree to purchase, we decided to go with a Frasier Fur this year. We had a Douglas Fir last year (see pic above) and it was an AWESOME, loyal, beautiful tree. Perfect size & weight, didn't shed, etc. Why we didn't go with the Douglas this year is beyond me...Who would've thought this would be the worst decision we could have made in oh-nine?! (So, that was our first mistake! Note to self - and to those of you who'd like a bit of Christmas tree advice - DO NOT PURCHASE A FRASIER FUR. NEVER. NEVER EVER.) I wish someone would've told me they shed, they weigh a ton, their branches are wimpy, and they FALL OVER!!! I have heard stories about this happening to folks, (it happened to us when we were kids) and I remember my mother having a absolute melt-down. We [kids] thought it was pretty funny at the time, but mom and dad did not. And now I see why...there's so much work involved, and with three little kids running around, there's no tellin when that tree could come tumbling down. It took me FOR-EV-ER to put all those lights on. Then all the ornaments (strategic placing of each so the tree wouldn't have any gaps). But I was so tired and so anxious to get it up and decorated that I wasn't thinkin straight. 'What a waste of time,' I thought to myself! I couldn't believe it had all come crashing down in a matter of seconds. So, one piece of advice: Stay away from the Frasier Furs.

Surprisingly, we only lost one, **YES ONE,** ornament in this whole process. (About half of the ornaments fell off the tree, but just the one broke!) Just finished re-decorating it tonight - check it out: