Tree, part two

I thought it was funny how many posts I read yesterday had the title of "All is Calm.." with the unspoken "whew" and wiping of brow, I’m sure. 

We got our main tree up and decorated today.  Rick and I have this little tradition of seeing how fast we can get to the tree lot, pick out a tree and get back home.  This year we did it in about 12 minutes. 

My Dad is here, supervising the decorating.  He sat by the fire and looked up from his book now and then and told me where I was being skimpy with the decorations. 

I’m not quite ready to have a ‘all is calm’ post just yet.  But I’m getting there ~ almost there. 

Added 12/17:

I’ve always loved the look of real tinsel on a tree.  When we were growing up we would each be given a handful to carefully place, strand by strand on the tree.  This would last about two minutes and then as soon as my mother left the room we would begin flinging it on in fistfuls or wadding it up into hard little balls and throw them at each other. 

Then the powers that be decided it wasn’t such a swift idea to have lead based decorations so easily and charmingly accessible to small children (or anyone for that matter) so they switched to plasticky tinsel.  Which just doesn’t wad up as satisfactorily. 

It’s been a sad, tinsel-less existence for us all these years until now.  I found an online resource for old fashioned tinsel only made out of pewter rather than lead.  I’m too late for this year but I’m going to order some for next year. 

And finally ~ I cannot take a picture of the tree to save my life.  I just can’t capture the colored lights properly.  Flash just washes everything out and you can’t see the lights at all or without a flash it ends up looking all nether worldly.  I swear it’s just a normal, green Noble Fir: