Tree Stand Tirade

My roommate and I, to celebrate the last day of November and welcome in the Christmas month, decided to put up our artificial tree tonight. I had gotten it from home and didn't realize how monstrous it was until I hauled three bulky bags up the stairs. The whole thing wouldn't have been as much of a pain if we had a tree stand that worked, but the old, rusted one I brought back with me wasn't much help and the screws only tightened to so much. So I ran out to Target for a cheap, plastic stand and proceeded to get wrapping paper, ornaments, craft supplies and a gift card, but no tree stand. They were all sold out! I was happy with my other purchases, though :)

I ran over to Home Depot and walked into the store. "Where are your tree stands?" I asked the girl by the lumber. She pointed down to the entire end of the store, out the sliding doors and into the outdoor garden. After taking a few breaks to catch my breath, I made it, only to find the smallest they had was a bowl the size of a St. Bernard's water dish. But I was desperate, it was cold, and it was 8 PM so I bought it and went back home. We struggled connecting the three pieces of the tree, and about 2 of the 5 screws to hold the tree in place actually worked. At this point, I'm lying on the ground under the tree trying to steady it while my roommate held the branches to keep them from smacking into her face. Both of us are sweating, Christmas music floats through the background and through all the struggle we kept saying, "Yay, Christmas!"

In a fit of frustration, I climb out from under the tree and move to clear away the bags. One of them feels heavy, so I reach inside and pull out this metal hinged thing that looks like a high tech arrow. When I unhook the clasps and it unfolds, my roommate and I both cry out in disbelief. It's a tree stand- the perfect shape and size and easy accessibility. "Are you serious??!!" I cry. We look at each other and dissolve into laughter. It's so fitting. We struggle for two hours, screwing and unscrewing stands, stopping a crooked tree from falling over, running out to multiple stores for a giagantic stand and a fake tree attacking us both, only to find out in one swift moment what we needed for a swift, easy set-up was right under our noses.

So the tree is up, though still a tiny bit crooked. But that's how it's going to be for the night. We'll work on lights and ornaments at a date to be announched. But we have it in our corner and our apartment is starting to look like someone actually lives there. And at least we have one fun story to tell of the beginning of our first Christmas together :)

Yay, Christmas!