Never would I thought growing up that I would even consider getting a fake one. I have now been contemplating it for a couple of years. After this Christmas season, I feel like the decision to go fake is a given.
Since living in the desert for 10 years now, I believe I am finally tired of watching each Christmas tree I buy dry-out and turn into a fire hazard before Christmas arrives. Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of the tree and the idea of having a real one but, here it is just not worth it. And this year, we decided to get the tree even earlier than normal. While we usually get our tree about two weeks out from Christmas, this year we got one Thanksgiving weekend. I like to think of it as my little science experiment to see if it would make difference in how long it lasted. But, of course, I was disappointed. You see, this weekend we were forced to return our tree to the home store where we purchased it in order to get a new one. This is something new for me and a big pain in the rear. After having our first tree for about two weeks it was so crispy that there was no way we could leave up for two more weeks. We just finished decorating our second tree - yes, I did say SECOND tree - this evening. At this time in the season the pickings are slim, at least at the store we went to. So, the second one would not have been any one's first selection. But, that is just the way it is...for this year anyway. I am definitely looking for a good sale on a fake after Christmas this year. Let me know if you see any nice ones on clearance.
Take a look at both of our Christmas trees for 2010.
Christmas tree #1 - Thanksgiving weekend - pre-decorations
Christmas tree #2 - two weeks from Christmas - decorated