We were going to buy our Christmas tree. This would be the very first year that we had done this on our own, and we were prepared--at least we thought we were prepared!
I found the tree stand and measured the opening where the tree trunk would be placed. We had had problems with this in the past--bringing the tree home only to find that the trunk would not fit into the stand. I even took the tape measure with me so I could measure the circumference of the tree trunk before we bought it.
Off we go, happy as could be!! We found the perfect tree!! I measured the tree trunk--too big for our stand. "No problem", I say to the girls. "We'll just have this nice man saw some of it off for us." He was a very nice man and willingly obliged my request. I measured again--perfect!! This was going to work!! We could do this on our own!! YEAH for us!!
Then this very nice man is going to put the tree into my car for me. I mean, how helpful could he be? I folded down the back seat of my car--plenty of room in the trunk!! He loads the tree into the car with the top of the tree facing the back of the front seat and the trunk of the tree toward the back of the car. Can you picture it?
Back into the car--this is so easy I can't believe it!! I'm driving, Cara is in the front passenger seat and Lindsay--poor Lindsay is crammed into the back sitting amongst the tree branches. The very nice man at the tree place didn't tie the tree branches together--this was a wide open, full out tree crammed into my car, and Lindsay was sitting amongst the branches. Well, home wasn't too far away, and she would survive. This tree was going home no matter what!!
Off we go, listening to Christmas music. Suddenly, a song came on that we had never heard before, and we just started laughing our heads off at this song!! We just couldn't believe what we were hearing!!
We make it to our apartment complex parking lot--it is dark and we are still laughing over this song!! Lindsay climbs her way out from the tree branches, we open the trunk of the car.
There is the tree trunk!! All we need to do is pull this tree trunk out and carry the tree in!! A cinch--a piece of cake--or so we thought.
Unfortunately, with the tree having all of its branches wide open in the trunk of car, no matter how hard we pulled that tree trunk we could not get it out of the trunk. Meanwhile, we are still laughing over the song we had heard, and Cara--she is singing the song and making donkey noises in the parking lot!!
Finally, Lindsay gets into the back of the car--amongst all the tree branches again!! Cara and I are outside pulling on the trunk of the tree--and, of course, Cara is still singing and making donkey noises. The three of us were laughing so hard by this time. What are we going to do? We can't get the tree out of the car!!
Lindsay is in the back of the car yelling, "You two pull and I'll push. We're going to get this tree out of here!!" We're pulling, she is pushing, Cara is still singing and making donkey noises, and all 3 of us are still laughing ourselves silly!
After all the pulling and pushing, the tree finally started to move--slightly. Lindsay tells Cara, "You gather all the tree branches in your arms--hold them tight together!! Then, we'll try again!! I'll push, Mommy--you pull, and Cara-- don't let go of those branches!!"
Clearly, by this time, she is the engineer of this operation. Well, this worked. After much time, effort and laughing--all the while singing this silly song and Cara making donkey noises--the tree was removed from the car and brought into the apartment.
Question--Do you think the tree fit into the tree stand after my careful measuring? That is a story for another day.
In the meantime, enjoy this silly video that I found of the song that we had heard for the very first time and added some humor into what could have been a very frustrating situation. And a big thanks to Cara for the donkey noises in the parking lot!! I'm sure our neighbors were wondering just who had moved in upstairs!!
Have a wonderful day, and don't forget to laugh!! It's good for you!!
To enjoy "Then Sings My Soul Saturday", please visit me here.
Beth
