Me, a Grinch?

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas at our house.  Santa decided to come early as we were going to be traveling near family this week.  We had a wonderful time, Santa was good, blah, blah, blah - I'll post more on that later. :)

However, the thing I enjoyed the most about the early Christmas was that I got to get rid of this:

Now, before you go labeling me a Grinch - taking away all of the holiday spirit - let me explain. Somehow, Nate and I chose the "most dead" tree in the Home Depot lot this year.  If you recall, we just purchased it 2 weeks ago.  Within days, one could hear needles dropping like dead flies. You didn't even have to crash into the tree or touch it - you could merely look at it and needles would start falling.  

So, in order to preserve the safety of my family - I was afraid that it may spontaneously combust if left alone in the house with any amount of sunlight through the windows (however, I guess the chilly temps in the house may have offset that possibility) - it came down by 1:00 yesterday - December 21st.  Yes, just a couple of hours after my children had sat joyously in front of it squealing with excitement about their new gifts.  Here are some pics:

Here it is after all the ornaments and lights are down (all neatly organized and packed away!).  Notice, you can actually see through it.  And, just in case you're thinking, "wow, what a pretty green and white tree skirt", take a closer look.

Yep, those are needles, not part of the skirt.  I'll have you know that two days prior to this I had removed the tree skirt, shook it out, and vacuumed all the needles up.  So, yes, that is just 2 days worth of fallen needles.

So, whenever, this guy is ready to come and recycle the tree - it's sitting by the side of the house waiting to be thrown into an icy river.  :)

I have to admit, that as much as I like decorating for Christmas, I enjoy taking it all down SO much better!  Typically, trees don't make it past December 26th for me; however, this is a new record.  And I'm thinking that next year, a fake tree and a pine scented candle may be the way to go!

Have a very Merry Christmas!!