Christmas Tree Wars
I've finally finished up the rental single family house which was a total massive project. I'm exhausted from it all and with Awesomeson away and AwesomeDIL/DGD not coming over for xmas I figured instead of getting a fresh tree, Id pick up a 9 footer artificial one (we have high ceilings) from craigslist. It should be noted that I do all the decorating and tree care. Chef just drags it in the house then sets it in the stand.
Nope! I tell Chef about the fake tree and he shakes his head saying it's only the 4th and we have time to get a fresh one and to donate the one I just bought!
Should I:
1. Set the fake one up anyway and he'll just have to deal
2. Resell the fake one and let him figure out when and if we get a fresh one (usually I am the one who coordinates this...if I wait long enough there won't be any left.)
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I'd stick with the one you
I'd stick with the one you bought. If he wants to do things his way, let HIM sell the artificial one and do ALL the rest of the work getting a real one and decorating it.
set yours up
If he wants another one - its the trend now to have multiple trees anyway...
Really?
Never seen or heard of this. Why multiple trees? Must have to have a huge house for that, I would think?
depends
You can small table top ones, and maybe one in the bedroom
My friend has crowded 6 inside her large living room. And in california, you can have a few outside. Its in the 70's here.
Ive decided to try for two - one for each living room we have. We shall see - I just got a bunch of free ornaments from SIL younger.
I have a tree in every room with the exception of the bathroom
I love Christmas. I have a 12 footer in my great room, 6' in the office, and 5' in each bedroom, with another 9' in my basement great room. It's definitely a thing, many of my friends do the same. Some of my trees have themes, for example the tree in the office has a Navy theme, lots of Dixie cup hat ornaments, helos, jets, blue & gold ornaments. Bedroom trees are simply soft lights. It brings me joy.
Fake one
Honestly if you resuse them for several years they are better for the environment and overall easier to deal with. Get a pine scented candle if you miss the smell. Go with your gut, it was the right call.
Dammit, TT!
Dammit, TT!
Chef has been bullying you for decades and has allowed The Gir and those 3 ferals to do the same. In fact, every time that I read one of your blogs, describing another outrage from ‘His Royal Highness’, my blood boils. Oh, how I’d love to have that sumbitch in Chez grannyd for a month; I’d have him locked in the basement, cold, naked, fed on bread and water and whimpering for his mommy!
Howsabout you take a page out of Lilly’s book and enrich the remainder of your life by catapulting that a$$hole into outer space on the toe of your boot.? Perhaps Ani could assist by engaging a five-fist monkey nut punch? Trust me, Hon, every woman on this site would love to see you free of that awful, selfish, user of a man.
I apologize if I’ve spoken too plainly but, my dear TT, it sickens me to contemplate your shuffling off your mortal coil without ever having enjoyed happiness in your marital relationship. Regarding the Christmas tree? FUCK Chef and what he wants. Do exactly what you want and, if he doesn’t like it, too damned bad!
(grannyd cracks a bottle of wine, pours a hefty glassful, sighs heavily and calms herself.)
Hope that I don’t get banned….
You're tempting me!
Lace up yer b!tch boots, tt!
Lace up yer b!tch boots, tt!
Hell YES Grannyd
Damn time someone kicked the elephant.
OP keep your effing tree and boot the jerk.
Chef
Is like a petulent child. He ranted about being too poor to afford a real tree in his trailer in the 70/80s with his mother and brother blah blah. I will just tell him i need to set it up to take photos to resell it.
Put the fake tree up
No needles to clean up, no watering to keep it fresh, no wondering next year what to do, no tree shopping every year, no further tree expense, and when you go on to your next phase you can sell it or donate it. If you want the Christmas tree smell, buy pine spray.
I agree that if he wants a fresh tree, no prob, he can buy one, put it up, decorate it, then you'll have 2. He can also clean up the fallen needles, keep it watered and dispose of it.
Lol. We had a bit of a fight on this and other things yesterday.
DW wanted the tree up yesterday. I refused. My plan was to get the tree set up and the lights put on today. Other than housework, cooking, and job interviews my week days are pretty empty. In my mind this was something to do during what is otherwise downtime.
The tree is up, and the pre installed lights are lit... except for the bottom section. Not sure yet what the problem is but it is an interesting troubleshooting excercise for my electrical engineer brain. Probably a fuse. Nothing complex. Just a PITA.
So, the plan is to get the lights working, get the 10 or so strings of additional lights installed, and take the next few evenings together to get the decorations on the tree and up around the house.
My quandry. We will not even be here for Christmas. We will be with my family. We leave Dec 22 and return Jan 2. So..... we will have the stuff up probably until late Jan because DW likes it. It is important to her.
Since we won't be here my preference would be to not decorate at all.
But, it is important to my bride. So... Here I am.
Bah-Humbug.
I wore my BH hat yesterday. Several people at the grocery store liked it.
Keep it
Past 1/2 for an Eastern Orthodox Christmas!
Oh he just added
If you don't want to put up a tree this year that's fine but if you are it has to be fresh (all or nothing mentality).
I was raised a Jehovahs Witness and I never had Christmas until I was age 42. I like the lights! I'll be putting it up this Thursday and let the chips fall where they may. The new sofa is coming this Friday. He still hasn't disposed of the old love seat!
Stick the love seat on the
Stick the love seat on the curb for trash day. Hopefully the snow makes it unsalvageable.
Enjoy your tree and lights.
I am baffled by Chef telling you it is either a natural tree or nothing. Like he can stop you from doing what you wish.
Oh
He loves pissing on everyone's ideas. I truly think he is still angry over his marriage to the Gir failing and wants everyone else to be miserable.
He only has one male relative out of like six that I know of who is still married and that nephew lets his wife do what she wants. The rest are control freaks and single.
Keep the tree
Put it up and decorate as you wish. Artificial trees are great, a lot less maintenance and clean up and better for the environment unless you are going to buy a real tre that can be replanted. Do what makes you happy. I am with grannyd, f chief.
I'm not sure
I'm convinced about the environment factor. Artificial trees are made from petroleum and thrown into landfills when no longer needed/broken. I take my fresh tree outside and birds use it as cover then it breaks down in the compost pile. The tree farms I use all replant two for each one taken.
I'n not anti fake or fresh. I just want to eliminate some extra work this year but I don't feel like completely abandoning the tree concept either thus the fake.
I am team immortal tree guy myself.
Where I grew up you could not get fresh trees. You could barely get a Christmas tree at all. So. when you found one, it lived forever. When a family left to return home, they were handed down to another family.
When DW and I were living in Qatar we inherrited an ancient banged up tree from a departing Expat family. Dad and I rebuilt that tree using wire, wooden dowl rods, we rewired the integrated fiber optic lights on the tree but we could only get one color rather than the changing colors that it would do when we first fired it up. We were happy to have it.
And.... not one pine needle to clean up. Ever.
We lived in Austin for many years. They do tree recycling drop offs for live trees there. The partks and rec department turns them into bark chips and mulch that they use for public landscaping. They also bag and sell it as fund raisers for the parks and rec department.
We have had both intermittently over the years. But my adopted Bah-Humbug (I get it from my dad) facade is definately pre-lit fake tree all the way.
My DW, is definately team trudge through the snowy woods, kill it, and put it in the living room. Which I too very much enjoyed for the few years we were in CO between Expat periods while growing up. The problem is that I had raging pine allergies. It gave me insane exema outbreaks and asthma. So. I do not tempt the alergy Gods with real trees in my home. Unless I am at a point where putting the North Woods in my living room to put a smile on my bride;s face overwhelms my terror of exema and asthma.
What to say
"Darlin, this is easier on me."
He
Just would pronounce me lazy. In his world, anyone who isn't doing hard physical contracting labor 7 days a week is lazy although he now admits he can no longer keep up with his 20 yr old self.
Get the one he wants IF he is
Get the one he wants IF he is going to do ALL
thr work lol...I'm guessing he's going to refuse once he knows all the work he will need to put in to make his desires come to life
I will be putting up the fake tree
This Thursday and go about my business of decorating and cookie baking. He'll just have to live with it. I'm getting older now and although I can still climb ladders and have very good balance, there will be a time when that's not the case, so just putting up a prelit w a few decorations is sufficient.
Oh my lord. Went through this
Oh my lord. Went through this with DH. The third year of going tree chopping with DH, the SDs AND BM (you read that right, and the first year I paid for both trees and didn't see a dime back from her!) I said NO. This doesn't Account for who watered it and took it down, etc. You know who that was.
I bought a fake tree on discount after the holidays and that's been it since. I refuse to get a real one. When DH or the SDs complained, because BM had a REAL tree, I told DH to go ahead and get one, but I would do nothing to help and if it dried to a crisp before Xmas I would get rid of the fire hazard then and there. Needless to say, no real tree.
After last year I'm done with the holiday pretty much. We still don't have thre tree up but I think he'll set it up with YSD this weekend. I'm going to be busy with something else.