Faux Christmas?

Let me begin by apologizing for the quietness of my blog. In all honesty, I can't even blame my job. Things have been busy at work, but not viciously so. My silence was due mostly to a period of self-reflection. My "mid-life" crisis got me to thinking about where I am, and where I want to be. It was a time for me to do a little mental housekeeping . . . not sure I still have it all figured out, but at least now I have identified the problems. Some of those thoughts I will share with you over the coming months, and some are best left in my head. Regardless, I finally feel as if I am moving in a good direction.

Enough of that - I have a much worse confession to make. . .

I broke my biggest Christmas rule. I bought and actually set up an artificial Christmas tree. I know. To borrow from Joseph Conrad - The Horror . . . The Horror. Believe it or not, I did put some thought into it, not that anything can really justify a fake tree, but here goes.

I actually haven't had a Christmas tree for the last four years. Those of you who know how much I LOVE Christmas will be surprised by that statement. In Nashville, I never did a tree because quite honestly I never spent much time at my apartment. Any free time I had was spent at the Helou's. I conveniently always made sure that I was at their place for the trimming of their tree, so I counted it partially as mine. In Philadelphia, I quite honestly was too busy to even think about the tree, and would have no idea how to get it home in the snow. Last year here, I was still surrounded by boxes so a tree just wasn't an option. Therefore, I decided a few months ago - when Christmas things started hitting the shelves - that this year I was definitely buying a tree.

Well a few months ago, I still had an SUV, and didn't have a convertible. I love Christmas, but not enough to strap a sticky 7 ft tree to my rag top. I could have had a friend bring it home for me, but I was too impatient to coordinate. My other concern was for the heat. My air conditioner is still on in my condo. I don't think that is exactly a perfect habitat for a North Carolina Douglas Fir.

Therefore, the day after Thanksgiving found me at Target buying my first ever faux tree. In all honesty, now that it is all set up and fluffed out, I must admit it looks pretty good. It has even shed a few needles to help with the deception. The thing it can't fake however is the wonderful smell of a Christmas tree. Oh well, maybe next year. This year is all about the faux - let's just hope that doesn't prompt Santa to leave faux gifts.