I'm a fake

Well, perhaps *I'm* not. But, for the first time in my life, there is a fake *tree* in my house.

I never believed I would allow fake greenery into my house. I grew up with a mother who hated fake Christmas trees. I don't share a ton of views with my mother, but that's definitely one I hold dear. I love the smell of a real tree, I love lugging it home, I even love the damn pine needles that get everywhere. It's kind of like the pain of getting it is a rite of passage of Christmas. I've even forgone having any tree at all in previous years when it wasn't practical or possible to get a real tree. I always seemed to get more depressed those years, though...

In any case, I was determined that I wasn't getting a tree this year. No one besides me would see it, since I don't have that many visitors at my house right now. Besides, Asha is in that climbing kitten phase, and while I can live with the shredded screen in my bathroom, I would be forced to kill her if she pulled over an entire Christmas tree after I put it up. Besides - too many ornaments are irreplaceable and I couldn't bear the thought of her using them as toys. But then I went to the Atlanta Festival of Trees. It's put on by the local children's hospital that my friend works at, so we get in for free. And there was the cutest table-top tree put together by a girlscout troup, for the same amount (or less) that I would pay for a real tree. And it was already decorated with lights and sparkles and a big bow...so I had to buy it. After all, it was for charity.

So now it's set up in the one room that I can shut off during the day so that Asha has less of a chance of pulling it over on herself. Asha is actually enjoying sitting on the shelf of the table that it's on, under the tree skirt. It must be like a little cave for her.

Sigh. This doesn't mean I'll have a fake Christmas, does it??