I told my wife, jokingly, that we should celebrate X'mas about a week or so afterwards; everything is on sale at the stores, its less crowded and much easier to shop, you can get free X'mas trees that people have tossed and many times those trees are already tinseled. She gave me a look that was kind of a cross between 'What the **** is wrong with you' and "Get the **** out of here".

1st weekend after Thanksgiving and 'REAL TREE' !! Love the smell of evergreen in the house.

Chinese food & a movie?

The wife will put up the pre-lit artificial tree either Thanksgiving evening or the day after. I prefer the day after (let's let Thanksgiving get its full run, OK?), but the wife's tradition was always that Thursday evening. And I guess since my family never had that kind of tradition - the tree went up when we got around to it - she wins out.

I'm kind of a bah-humbug type, but Mrs. FMB! gets excited about Christmas, so she'll do some indoorsy decorations. Nothing outside.

probably weekend after tg...fake trees. one in living room, one in my office, one in the basement family room by the bar, and one over at Ernie's apt. the only thing I do is hang the lights on the roof and dormers. grandkids help the wife put up all the shit inside and out in the yard.

when our kids were home, we used to do the live tree thing. would load them and the dog up in the truck and drive over to the Christmas tree farm. turn the dog loose and wherever she stopped and took a shit, we'd cut down the closest tree. not really a popular tradition w/most, but I thought it was kinda neat.

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I try and make my wife hold off as long as possible after Thanksgiving. And then I try like hell to get her to take that shit down as quick as possible after Christmas.

You guys with real trees, how do you keep it green?

green food coloring. spray it on.
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I typically put my stuff Thanksgiving weekend. I have a 7' pre lit tree which is the greatest invention ever. Lights on the mantle of the fireplace upstairs & down. A couple Nativity scenes. Some porcelain Santa stuff that's been in the family for years. It basically barfs Christmas all over the inside of my house. I don't do anything outside really although if I did it'd be the all white lights look as that's what I prefer.

Wouldn't spray paint be easier and longer-lasting?

not sure...I just know the tree farm where we used to get ours used to spray green food coloring on all their trees to make them look greener.

maybe because they were still alive and the customer had to cut their own down? spray paint would probably kill them?

just guessing...
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:eek:

I thought you were joking...

By Christmas ours is on its last legs, really.

I usually start with the Outside Lights this weekend.
However I don't do them technically in my yard. About 50 yards away from the backside of my house is a Bike/Pedestrian Bridge that goes over a channel of the Lake I live on. I run Christmas Lights the length of it, and I must say it is beautiful.
The Parks Dept sorta knows about it.
The people that use it love it, especiall when it snows. I will see familys come out just to walk the bridge at night just to see it.
Summer photo, but you get the idea

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...bucket/139.jpg

You should hire a troll to live under the bridge and demand a toll from those who wish to pass.