Our neighbors across the street go every year and chop down their own Christmas tree. We have never been organized enough to do that, but doesn't it sound fun? We decided that this was the year. Nicholas is 6 and so, old enough to enjoy the experience. Megan is 10 and so, young enough to enjoy the experience. :) Even the weather was going to cooperate, cool, but not freezing, and no rain.

But.

Nicholas started vomiting about 9 PM Friday night. And was up every 2 hours until somewhere after 4 AM. (David commented later that the 4 AM episode was the most painful. I reminded him that that was the only one he got up for.) He was only marginally better Saturday, so our plans were quickly going down the tube. We decided on Sunday to go with the traditional "lot" instead of the more romantic "farm" due to time constraints. The benefit of that was that I didn't have to go. I have trained them well to look for the biggest, fattest tree we can fit into our living room.

Megan perusing the merchandise.







My trusty hunters.









This photo is reminiscent of last year when no actual photos were taken of the selection process. They left the camera in the car, so all I got was a thru-the-window view of the tree lot as they drove away. This is where a Christmas tree farm would at least have provided a scenic view. This is also where not going can burn me.




Ready for travel!








Why do we all think self-portraits are a good idea?








Now here's where the story gets interesting. The family arrived home with the tree just as I was leaving for our neighborhood Christmas tea. David mentioned that he was feeling a bit queasy. When I returned more than two hours later, our tree was still in lateral recumbency in our front yard. Inside the house, I found David upstairs suffering from a variant of Nicholas's affliction. Megan informed me that she had also vomited. And I was starting to feel a little green around the edges. David dragged himself out of bed long enough to help me get the tree into the stand in the living room. I did a few other things before giving in to the bug myself. Needless to say, the lights never got put on the tree.

That was Sunday. Today is Tuesday and our tree is still naked. And notice, our couch is kind of in the middle of the room also. I think tonight we are going to watch the Survivor reunion show on DVR instead of putting up the lights (something else we missed in our throes of agony) so at this rate, it could be New Years before our tree is lit.