Buy the stand first!

D and I talked about getting a tree this year when we thought my family would be be staying with us over the Solstice weekend. The visit is up in the air, but we decided to go ahead and get a tree. We've didn't get around to going tree shopping until yesterday. A friend of ours picked up their tree from Ikea for only $25. If you take the tree back after the new year, you get a $10 gift card (basically just renting a tree--the tree gets turned into wood chips and used in city parks--cool!). Then we find out that that Ikea only offered trees for a few days earlier in the month. Well, there are tree lots all over the place, no problem. Lowe's had trees for 50% off. The selection was very limited, but we found an 8 ft Douglas Fir which still had some needles. Pop into Lowe's to pick up a tree stand, none in stock, but are told the Rite-Aid or Walgreens across the street carry stands. None at Walgreens, Rite-Aid had a couple of cheap plastic stands. Eh, we had seen some at Fred Meyers which looked much more sturdy and would actually last longer than a season. Hmmm, Fred Meyers is out, as is the 2nd Lowe's we find. No go at Target either. Darren refused to check out Walmart (he's never set foot in one, good for him). Damn, damn, damn! So much for happy holidays, both of us are tired and annoyed at this point. We try to come up with alternative solutions but decide to go with a cheap stand from Rite-Aid since it seems to be the only thing available. A couple hours later, the trunk has been trimmed (so it actually fits in the house), and the tree has been trimmed with lights and ornaments. Yay! I love the smell and there's just something about a tree that makes me happy. Next year if we get a tree, I'll be better prepared and we'll head to a local tree farm to cut our own.

Do any dog owners out there have issues with their dogs using the tree as a urinal? At Otto's last obedience class the instructor was making small talk about the holidays. A guy in the class said he hasn't had a tree for a few years because it's like you're brining the yard indoors and the dogs pee on/around the tree! The instructor said the same thing. I had never heard of that and never had issues with our dogs while growing up. So far so good with Otto!