If a tree falls...

I was pretty bummed the weekend after the layoffs began at work. So we figured getting a Christmas tree would liven things up.

We’re basically cheapskates and Kris found out about a Christmas tree farm all the way up in Greenwich where you can cut down any size tree you can find for just $25. Yeah, it’s about an hour away, but we actually calculated the cost of the gas and figured it was still a savings.

Since you can get any size you want, we found a tree that I think would qualify as GINORMOUS (at least compared to our past trees).

The tree is beautiful, but here’s the catch – it was growing right up against another tree. As a result, the branches on one side are much longer than the other. The trunk is essentially off-center. So when we placed it in the tree stand it immediately started to fall over.

We weighted the stand down with whatever we could find – namely some paint cans, an ax, an iron wedge and a couple of C-clamps. For good measure we tied some fishing line across the front of the tree so that if it did begin to tip it would lean into the line.

Good thing we did that because the next day Kris was sitting at the computer when she noticed the tree starting to tilt.

The ultimate solution was to screw a hook into the wall and tie a ribbon around the tree to hold it up. If it counts for anything, at least Kris found a nice, green, festive ribbon.