the getting of the tree

Yesterday was Bram's office holiday party — lunch catered by Cowgirl, everyone's favorite restaurant — then the rest of the afternoon off. Sweet! We decided to go get our tree. Went to the corner of Cerrillos and Guadalupe and Paseo de Peralta (where the Farmer's Market sets up in warmer weather) to the tree lot operated by the Delancey Street Foundation. We found a nice little (Douglas?) fir, and trussed it to the roof of the Golf:



After driving it around town a bit (other errands), we got it home, where Bram demonstrates just how short it is:



Treehugger.

Once the wee fir was inside and in the stand, Bram made us our traditional tree-trimming Mai Tais (thanks Paul + Tess). Thus fortified, the decorating began. I did the lights, then we both dug into our ever-expanding collection of ornaments. Thanks to my Mom, we had even more this year. She sent a box of ornaments from my childhood, some from Germany, some deeply '70s (why were made-of-wood-beads, abstract mini-creche ornaments so popular then?), plus some new ones:





Not too shabby:



And it smells great. Merry Christmas!