On a cold and snowy day, a dad and his daughters headed out to find their perfect christmas tree. This tree would need to uphold some family traditions-it must be tall, bushy enough to fill the front window, and uniquely shaped but hopefully not so crooked that it needs to be bolted into the wall. At two against one, the daughters hoped to secure a blue spruce despite their dad's overwhelming pechant for white pines.

So the intrepid trio bundled up against the cold, drove out to the cutest little christmas tree farm and embarked upon their journey. The snow was cold and falling down on them, but they trekked on through fields of trees with their saw and sled in tow.

So many good choices...How would they ever find the right one?


At last, some good options-tall, bushy and not holey. And yes, they're white pines. The daughters acquiesed to their dad's wishes for yet another overly bushy white pine with floppy branches.


Now, the dilemma-which one would be their final choice?
Right or Left?
They both look good. Green, tall, bushy and no major holes. Hmmm.



"Ellie, stop taking pictures and help us pick a tree already."
So much discussion ensued, the trees were viewed from all angles, and...(drumroll please)
The tree on the Left is chosen!



Now to the tough part, using all their braun and the tiny provided saw to chop down our tree. The daughters let their dad get the chopping started, but each took turns exerting their strength against the mighty christmas tree.

Put your back into it Annie!

Timber!

Loading onto the sled....

Heading back with our tree in tow.

Shake, shake, shake!

Time to shake out all the dead needles.

And then into the magical tree slimming/wrapping device.

Seriously, how do they make it so skinny and portable?

Trusty tree farm guy standing proudly with our tree.

Tied down and ready for the journey home.

holidays = crazy busy

There were a million things on my list that I needed to get done today, and I'm happy to report that I was a champion task-crosser-offer. Crossing things off a list gives me a unique kind of satisfaction. Can't really explain it, you need to be a list maker to understand.

My shopping is done except for Peggy and my Dad. The wrapping, on the other hand, is a work in progress. I have more stuff to send to Tommy, but I sent him two big boxes today, so the next box can wait a few days.

Edited to add: I've been trying to upload a video for the past two hours, and now i've finally given up. I'm going to bed. Night y'all.

The snow came, and now it's melting.  It's been wicked cold and windy.  Yeah winter!  Today it's actually pretty sunny and a bunch of my neighbors have been out and about.  Not me though, still recovering from a bout of illness yesterday.  Not sure what was wrong with me, but I woke up totally nauseated and got sick before I left for work.  As a girl that usually, 'pukes and rallies', I figured I'd be fine and I went into work.  Bad idea.  Thank goodness I had the forethought to pack a puke bucket in the car.  Like it isn't bad enough that I deal with puke on a daily basis at work.  So I slept most of yesterday, and think that I'm almost fully recovered.  Gatorade and pretzels played a pivotal role, and now I've moved on to toast and coffee. 

Still stunned that the Steelers lost to the Browns the other night.  My medics have been harassing me via text message since the second quarter.  They've been gloating for days, and I'm so over it.  Although, the one text I got said, "the Browns are playing playoff football". WTF? I don't think they've been to the playoffs in more than 20 years.  The Browns have always been and will continue to be terrible.  They will never be anywhere near as good as the Steelers.  How could this have happened?  I was working, so I didn't get to watch the game, which is probably for the best.  Screaming at the television is my dad's gig.  Guess we won't be going to the Superbowl this year. 

Not sure what I'll do the rest of the day, but it's about time for me to get off the couch and find something constructive to do.  Still have lots of shopping to do, my tree is still in the basement, and I should probably get to work on my christmas cards. 

The snow has finally started accumulating outside, not enough to shovel, but it's definitely coating the ground.  Decided not to leave my house today, and therefore, have accomplished very little.  Made a bunch of phone calls this afternoon, read through the packet HR sent me explaining my new health benefits, and watched a slew of christmas shows.  Weird how all the specials from the 60's have the same voices even though the characters are different. 

I am working on a 'secret' project, so I did some work on that today, but otherwise have been totally lazy.  Did discover that I had no spaghetti sauce in the house, but only after I had made ravioli.  Talk about an exciting day!  Found out that pizza sauce is an adequate substitute. 

Sorry to bore you guys with such a trivial update, now it's back to stalking my fantasy football team.  I'm down by less than half a point and need to win to maintain my status as #1 in my league.  My team has done remarkably well despite it being a total hodgepodge of players I had never heard of before this season.  Keep your fingers crossed that my qb pulls out a win and I get at least another point. 

It's finally snowing!!  Soft white flakes are falling outside my window.  As much as I complain about the weather here, you'd think I'd be dreading the onslaught of winter snow, but it's not Christmas without snow.  Yesterday I did a bunch of shopping and then decorated my house.  I even put lights in the windows this year.  Last year I did almost no decorating, so it was fun to go through all the boxes and pull out things I had forgotten about.  Now I just have to find someone who's willing to come over and help me get my tree upstairs.  (they might have to help with a few other tasks as well, but we'll start with the tree) 

Talked to Tommy this morning, he'd been trying to reach me the last few days, but I'd been falling asleep on the couch and then going upstairs when the sun came up without my cell phone.  He called nice and early this morning-before 10 (eegads! doesn't he know that you're supposed to sleep in on the weekends and any other day you're able?)  Anyways, we talked for almost an hour, which is impressive for t-dubs.  As nice as it is to talk to him, it just makes me miss him more.  I know he's doing this for all of us, but it's still hard knowing he's in harm's way.  C4 and I sent him some packages when I was in NJ a few weeks ago, and he has accused me and the rest of America of trying to give the Marine Corps diabetes.  He said they've been sent boxes and boxes of candy and sweets.  However, he said he still wanted to get some Christmas cookies and Christmas Ale if I could figure out a way to get it to him.   Right now he said the only thing they really run out of is coffee, so if anyone wanted to send something, ground coffee is the best choice and long as it's not some (earmuffs children) "weird flavored crap".

Gotta go catch some snowflakes on my tongue.

that time is fleeting...

Guess I missed November.  Oh well.  My sister has done a good job of keeping everyone up to date on all the happenings with the fam, so if you feel you've been slighted by my lack of blogging, be sure to check her blog for updated information.

Went full time at rb&c.  Miss my boys at the clinic.  It's different to work with all girls again.  Weird in a way, but so far it's going ok.  Better than being unemployed, but I'm still not sure how long I'll stay at the ER.  Traveling again is an option, but I'm not sure if I 'm ready to be away from friends and family just yet.  Being home has been good and bad, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.  As much as I hate the weather, Cleveland is and always will be home.  So how do you decide it's time to leave?  At this point in my career, it's probably better for me to get established somewhere, work towards a pension and not travel.  How sad is that?  I sound like a friggin grown up.  Blech! 

Had a blast last week with the fam despite some serious sleep deprivation.  Think I finally caught back up though, after working three straight days, I slept until five this afternoon.  It's kind of disgusting that I'm able to sleep the day away like that, but lucky for me I had nothing planned for today.  I have a list of things I need to accomplish, maybe tomorrow, which is actually later today since it's almost two in the morning. 

Gave in and finally turned on my heat Tuesday, but only because it was December 1st, and I didn't want to come home one night from work and be able to see my breath inside my house.  Strangely enough it hasn't snowed here yet.  Global warming has hit the midwest!  It's been in the 50's all week, so it still seems weirdly warm.  I did wear gloves and a hat the other day, but it was wicked windy and in the low 40's when I left work at 1am.

Without snow it seems weird to be getting ready for Christmas.  I can't get into it without a deluge of lake effect snow.  I've had christmas music on constantly but it still seems far away.  Three weeks is hardly far away though.  Seeing as though I haven't received a list from anyone, I guess I won't have too much shopping to do.  Does anyone else do more shopping for themselves than for the people on their list?  Maybe it's just me. 

Congrats to Annie for getting to 50lbs at ww.  I'm so proud of you! (and a little jealous too)