Our First Tree

I convinced Goober to get a real tree this year. It was easy. I simply told him I wanted one and he said okay. I doubt it will be that easy next year.
Last weekend we went to the store and bought a tree stand and lights, then hit a second store for a tree skirt. Afterward we drove over to my in-laws to borrow my father-in-law's truck. They live next to Goober's grandma so he stopped in and helped her with some computer problems.
Once he was done we drove across town to get a tree from the boy scout troop that sets up in Ballard every year. After driving across town Goober pulled up to the lot but had a hard time finding the driveway. He eventually spotted the orange cones and Christmas lights that framed the drive way. After we walked around for a bit Erik realized we were at the wrong lot. We bought a 6ft tall fluffy Douglas Fir.
Sadly the tree people did not put it in a net for use. This resulted in us leaving a trail of needles from the garage door, into the elevator, to our door. Once the mess was cleaned up Goober went to put the nice sturdy stand on the tree. It looks just like the one we had when I was a kid. Unfortunately the stand didn't fit. Our pretty tree turned out to have a very large trunk. So, off to the store.

We swapped the very large truck for my cute little car and drove to the store we originally got our stand at. It was closed so we drove to another one and got in the door two min before closing. Goober decided to be stubborn and looked all over for a stand that was less ugly than the large one that we hoped would fit our tree. Fortunately we have a pretty tree skirt because the large stand is very ugly. It also didn't fit.
The good news is that when I first moved out of my parents house the tool kit my dad gave me included a saw. Goober had to saw off a couple branches and a chunk from the bottom of our tree to get the tree to fit. That's when we realized our trunk was crooked. The bottom portion was straight, the rest was at about a 45 degree angle.
Poor Goober had to take the tree back out of the stand and saw the bottom of the tree again. By then our carpet was covered in needles and sawdust. To make Goober's job worse the tree had been pierced by a metal spoke to keep it standing upright. The tree sap covered the hole this created and hardened. Goober had to saw away at it and then would chip away a chuck of wood. Eventually a wedge of the tree was removed and the straight part of our tree was now crooked.
Four hours after our adventure started our tree was standing up straight. To commemorate our adventure our first ornament is a pretty glass tree... and I'm pretty sure Goober won't let me pick out our tree next year. 

Ramblings

During my husband's last week of work he managed to pick up a cold. He graciously shared it with me. At first I managed to avoid this gift but eventually caught it about a week after he did. Unfortunately this was the weekend that we went to Victoria, BC. It was a gorgeous weekend and despite my budding cold it was very romantic. Victoria is a beautiful city and there is a lovely walk around the harbor that lead to a couple of cute parks I was able rest in. We followed the walk to a cute waterfront that had a fantastic fish and chip spot among a couple of other small businesses. One even sold raw fish so you could feed a couple of seals that seemed to live there.
When we got back we received word that while we were gone our friend's wife had finally had their baby. They had a cute baby boy nicknamed Sprout. Sprout is absolutely adorable and as soon as I'm over my cold I'm going to pinch his adorable little rolls. We've already gotten him a cute little towel that has a hood and is decorated with little duckies. Tomorrow my husband is headed over to their house to help finish putting together furniture for the nursery.
Yesterday we went to the Sea Food Festival in Ballard. It was fun to walk around and see the arts and crafts booths and trying to decide what to snack on. The longest line was for the bacon wrapped scallops. They smelled heavenly even with my cold. My husband is sadly allergic to seafood so he opted for a viking ice cream sunday. It came with a chocolate viking on top of the whip cream. He looked like an adorable little kid eating it.
While so far our summer has been leisurely and enjoyable today was sad. A few months ago my in-laws found out that their dog's kidney was failing. He's been on medication but he started refusing to take them and deteriorated quickly. Today after taking a couple turns for the worse in the past couple days he was put to sleep. The dog has been a buddy to my husband. He would look very offended whenever I sat next to my husband on the in-laws couch. Apparently  he believed that I was in his spot and would sometimes try to get in between us.
Next week is the annual family camping trip. This year a few of our friends are coming with us and I'm looking forward to it. One couple, Biggie and his wife, are bringing their pugs. Should prove for an interesting trip. I'm in charge of supplying the smores supplies. My cousin-in-law is bringing his swashbuckling skewer. Can't wait to take pics of that.
In other news one of my favorite high school series is on Netflix. It is about as bad as I remember it and I'm having a blast torturing my husband by watching it. Its bringing back a million memories of drooling over the male lead with my friend Shorty. The writing is bad, but typical for a tween market. The acting is a joke, but again typical for the market. Still, I love it and I'm off to watch more.

Spoiled

My Husband cleans our coffee pot. We have a little four cup coffee pot that makes just enough for the two of us in the morning. A friend of ours gave us a fancy coffee grinder that can grind exactly the amount that you want. It is programmable but we almost always forget so he tends to start it while getting ready.
He's also the one that does the hand washing. I'm in charge of loading, running, and unloading the dishwasher. Except from time to time he will start the dishwasher for me. When he does he makes sure to include our small coffee pot.
I never remember to clean the coffee pot. It can get gross, but before it gets bad he cleans it. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal. To me it is. It is one of the small things he does that makes me feel spoiled.
Yes, I'm a very happy newlywed and I still can't believe I'm lucky enough to have him.