Well here you go... here is the Christmas tree story of 2015.
Yesterday I told you the story of the year our fully decorated Christmas tree fell over. Today I have another story to tell, this was the year the tree HAD to GO.
I'm going to rewind a little, to December 2014. For years we had purchased our Christmas trees through a local seller. Unfortunately this gentleman's property was seized via eminent domain. Basically the government forced the owners to move off of their property (they were paid) so a new freeway could be paved in its spot. Since they were gone, we were left looking for a place to purchase our perfect Christmas tree.
I recalled a friend of mine raving about her Christmas trees throughout the years. She would tell me how good they smelt, how full and pretty they were, how they lasted from Thanksgiving until well after Christmas had passed. Where did she buy these wonderful trees? Costco.
Of course! Costco has everything! So, in December of 2014, we purchased our first tree from Costco. She was right, the tree was pretty, tall and full. It had a great pine scent that permeated the living room and its branches stayed soft and flexible through the new year until alas, we took it down.
(Action and Smiley decorating the Christmas Tree in Dec. 2014)
So this year, we decided to go to Costco again to find our perfect Christmas tree.
Hubby had time over his lunch to help us find and load up the tree. We climbed into the car (2 of them actually ~ needed room for the tree, you know!) We purchased our tree inside the store, then drove around back to pick it out. They had just received a new shipment of trees. They were all bound up in netting so we chose mainly by height and whether or not it looked straight.
The tree was loaded up and we headed for home. When we got home, hubby cut a few inches off of the base of the trunk, put it in the tree stand, brought it into the house, gave it some water and cut off the netting. We made sure it was straight and he went back to work and I began decorating in a different area of the house.
About 30 minutes later, my son yelled, "Mom! A worm just fell out of the tree!"
And that it did. I worm about 2 inches long and the width of a piece of spaghetti was squirming around on my hardwood floor. I swiped it up and went back to decorating, only to be interrupted with another shout out about another bug.
I started by picking up one slug....and then another would fall.....soon I would see another wriggling on my floor.....5...10....
My hubby and I took the tree outside. Gave it a good shaking and brought it back in.
11.....12....13....
NO WAY this tree was staying in my house!
We took it outside not quite knowing what to do with it.
After talking to my dad, we decided we would try to return the tree to Costco (I've been told they take everything back).
We carried the tree to the driveway, removed the stand and shoved it into the vehicle. My 11 year old and 7 year old jumped into their seats. They looked at each other, then down at the tree trunk that had been pushed into the vehicle between them and noticed the 5 slugs stuck to the bottom of the trunk. They jumped right back out of the car and told hubby and I we were on our own to return this one and find a new tree.
(dark + driving = a blurry picture)
We returned it at Costco ~ the employees were a bit shocked at our story ~ we were given our money back, no questions asked. They didn't even ask us if we wanted to simply exchange it. Which was wise, because we wouldn't have.
Then we went across the parking lot and found a nice little tree at Lowes. It was smaller and a little more expensive, but it was bug FREE!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!
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