Do you remember singing that song as a kid, “O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree; you stupid thing, you fell on me?”
Well.
Allow me to introduce you to our Christmas tree:
Yeah.
The cats would like you to know that they were not responsible for this. We’re sure of this fact because we put the tree up behind double pocket doors…and we close those doors overnight and while we’re gone, so the kitties can’t be naughty. The base was made for big trees (ours is 9’ tall) but apparently not this particular big tree. A couple nights ago, we noticed that the tree was leaning and the base wasn’t sitting flat on the ground, like the tree was top heavy. We came home the next day to the pictures above, and things like this:
Mickey appears to be ecstatic about his wife’s new look.
In order to make our tree stand again, we had to get a new base (the old one broke) and this process involved cutting off about a foot of the trunk so it would fit into the new base. This sounds simple, but we don’t actually own a hand saw or a chainsaw, so our tools of choice were a circular saw, then a jigsaw, then a miter saw, then a hammer and chisel to finish off the job. We are clearly ridiculous resourceful.
Of course, none of this would have happened if I had let Rick get the tree he really wanted:
All in all, it was pretty much like something off of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, minus the squirrel and Uncle Louis and his toupée.
Does anyone else love Christmas Vacation as much as we do? My favorite scene in the whole movie is this one:
Clark: "So, when did you get the tenement on wheels?"
Eddie: "Oh, that uh, that there's an RV. Yeah, yeah, I borrowed it off a buddy of mine. He took my house, I took the RV. It's a good looking vehicle, ain't it?"
Clark: "Yeah, it looks so nice parked in the driveway."
Eddie: "Yeah, it sure does. But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because we're taking it with us when we leave here next month."
Bahaha. Makes me laugh every time.
Has your tree ever fallen over? Do you have a favorite Christmas movie scene? Do share.
I, personally, am off to go re-trim the tree and/or duct tape it to the wall.
Hope you’re having a great Monday! :)
This brings back memories of when I was a child. This happened many a time. I remember tying the tree to the walls...yuppers my dad would screw in cup hooks and then wrap the tree trunk in fishing line and tie it off to two opposite walls as the tree sat in a corner...makes me laugh to think of how it looked. We had to make sure we didn't get too close or we would unknowingly be clotheslined by the fishing line...hahaha...thanks for sharing this morning...started me off with a smile. Hope to see the finished tree, and hope it stays standing. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor tree! We actually didn't get one this year, for fear that little Levi would pull it over on himself. But I do remember one year growing up when the tree fell over THREE times.
ReplyDeleteAnd National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is our very favorite Christmas movie! We watch it on Thanksgiving night and Christmas Eve every year.
oh no!!! your post had me cracking up though- it's funny and well written! and i think you should bolt your tree stand to the floor!
ReplyDeleteI spit out my smoothie when I read about Mickey. Seriously. You need to clean my laptop.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the tree. I like Rick's tree. It definitely had potential...
Well we had a few things go wrong on our wedding day, but nothing like what happened to Mickey and Minnie. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteFunny post. :) I like the idea of duct tape. Isn't that supposed to cure all evils?
I would write more if I could keep the laughter shakes at bay...never had a real tree so I had no idea about their perils!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Christmas Vacation, It's one of those movies where the ENTIRE thing is my "favorite part".
ReplyDeleteYour poor tree! I decorated my mother in-law's tree this year and although it was fake, the top part had somehow broken and would stand in the tree right, I was so close to busting out the duct tape too!
Oh my! At first glance I thought, the cats! Glad they could not be blamed.
ReplyDeleteOur tree would just not stand straight. It look about 30 minutes of positioning before we finally got it right! Poor Mickey & Minnie - hopefully there weren't too many casualties from the tree's fall.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your tree! Fievel hasn't managed to knock our tree over completely yet this year (he did last year), but there's still two weeks until Christmas!
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE Christmas Vacation! We rented it on Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season. :)
I don't think I can choose a favorite scene, though. They're all too funny.
OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did any of your favorite ornaments break? I hope not....
ReplyDeleteOh no! That is so sad! Is Minnie fixable? I sure hope it doesn't fall again!
ReplyDeleteI've been there. Ours was a fake tree two years. It was beautiful, for all of 4 hours. Until my demon dog jumped on it and knocked it over. The worst parts were all the broken glass ornaments. I threw a horrible temper tantrum. I'm worse than a four-year-old. You seem to have handled it better.
ReplyDeleteErin....remember the Robinson Family tradition? Two years that our Christmas tree was literally run over by a vehicle of some sort. First year was my Dad's tractor after it bounced out of the bucket when we pulled in the driveway and the second was the year it blew out of the back of the truck and was hit (and drug) by an Astro Van. Good times Good times....
ReplyDeleteoh my! I gotta say though, everyone I know who has had tree-falling problems has used a plastic base/tree holder thing. I have the (metal) one my parents used when I was little, that I have feeling they bought the first year they put up a tree together. still in it's original 1960s packaging. Nostalgia + I have never had a tree fall over, and I've always had cats.
ReplyDeleteo.wow.
ReplyDeleteMy tree-tastic story (occurring the Christmas 3 months after I started dating the hubs) also centers around inappropriate tree-cutting tools. I'd put my tree up in the front window of my apartment & hoped to impress with my beautiful Victorian decor. I'd just tied the last lace bow when the tree started going over. Just then the beau knocked on the back door. If I went to answer, I'd have to let go of the tree & it would completely topple. I yelled & sent the dog, who having no opposable thumb, could not let him in...
Long story, short -- the tree was horizontal & we realized after an hour of trying to right it that there was a lower branch which if we were to cut it off, would allow us to more firmly clamp the trunk. The only tool available for the job was the "tree-cutting" knife which to this day is still in my kitchen drawer. It was dull & had a nick in it that we used to "saw" the offending branch. (It was by no means a quick operation...)
Oh no!!! Can you fix any of the broken ornaments?
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side (trying to be positive!), you get to decorate your tree twice now :)
oh that's so sad!! i hope that mickey mouse ornament wasn't your first married ornament or something special!! at least the kitties are still angels (although they're so darn cute i don't think they could really not be considered angels in my book...)
ReplyDeleteMany years ago when living with a roommate we decorated the tree with so many ornaments that it fell over in the middle of the night because of the weight. Believe it or not, neither or us heard it!! I love Christmas Vacation as well:)
ReplyDeleteHa! I love the Mickey ornament. Too funny. I am sorry about your tree :'(
ReplyDeleteSorry about your tree... I hope you didn't lose any really special ornaments.
ReplyDeleteI do have a tree falling over story. One month after re-finishing our wood floors, it was Christmas time and we put up our real tree. Around 2:00 AM, I heard a huge crash. The 8' tree had fallen over and spilled the very full stand of water (I'm talking maybe 6-8 litres of water!) all over the wood floors. Thankfully, the oil finish (Waterlox) stood up and the water just pooled onto the wood. Although, it did leak into the basement below.
Our solution for future years? Installed a hook into a joist and now the tree is strung up by airplane cable. haha The star mostly hides the apparatus. :P And that tree is not going anywhere!