U-Cut Trees

I love Christmas. I also love going out to get a Christmas tree - and last Sunday afternoon was the appointed time! Dusty, Peyton and I braved the rain to head out to a U-Cut Christmas tree farm.

We arrived at a small "mom-and-pop" tree farm - and just in time, the rain abated! We were handed a saw and a plastic bag (for kneeling on) and told, "Any tree just $20." Really? That's even cheaper than last year!

It didn't take us long to realize that their trees were probably so cheap because most of them were overgrown. After some scrounging, we found a nice 6 foot tree for Gail's family. It took a while longer to find one for Dusty's family. We were looking for a taller tree - of which there were plenty. We finally found the one we wanted - knew it was a "little" tall but figured we could remedy that at home. The owner was nearby with his chainsaw - so we decided to ask for his assistance cutting it down. Boy were we glad we did because the base was approximately 7 inches in diameter! Peyton and I carried the smaller tree back to the truck while Dusty waited for some assistance getting her tree back to the truck. The owner and his brother-in-law went to help and it took the 2 burly men to get the tree back to the truck. I'm not sure we could have carried it on our own because it was REALLY heavy. We paid for the two trees and were on our way home.

On the way home, we kept laughing at how big Dusty's tree was! We knew Richard was going to think we were crazy. When we got back to the house, Richard asked who the gigantic tree was for - and proceeded to shake his head when we informed him that it was their tree! Dusty informed him that next year he'd just have to brave the rain and go with us. But we knew he could make it just right - with a little help from his saw.

So after a little work, the 14 foot Douglas fir became just tall enough to fit inside the house. Now Dusty waiting for it to dry out and then will vacuum it before bringing it indoors (See December, 2007 blog, "New Uses for Vacuums.")

It was a great afternoon - just $20 for a 14 foot tree!

Let the smell of Christmas invade our homes!!!

The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Today is the 75th anniversary of the the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For those of you who did not pay attention in history class, the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment which had mandated nationwide prohibition of alcohol.

I give you the background on this because of the picture above. I saw this picture attached to an article about the repeal of prohibition and laughed out loud!

Did they really think this type of advertising would work?!

Sushi & Caitlin

Tonight is sushi night. I love sushi night! It's one of the simple things I enjoy - being able to pick something off the "train," waiting to see if they'll make my favorite... It makes a girl happy.

Recently though, sushi makes me think of sweet little Caitlin van der Kamp. Caitlin is the 4 year old daughter of my friends, Kerry and Lori. She has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. Caitlin is responding well to treatment so far and has officially been dianosed as a 'Rapid Early Responder'!

Caitlin loves sushi. After she began her treatments for leukemia, the doctor told her no raw fish. That could be problematic of course, but her family went to the rescue and helped her create her very own 'fishless' sushi! What fun for them!

Please keep Caitlin in your prayers. Here is a link to the Caring Bridge website where you can read updates on her treatment and the spectacular progress in her battle against cancer.

Caitlin's Journey