In the Spirit of the Season

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that my wife and I have been ass dragging with this whole Christmas thing.  We're 5 days out and the house still looks like we left it from the day after last Christmas (which is eerily similar to the way it looks mid-Summer).  That is, until last night. 

I got home from work and, after saying goodbye to my wife as she headed off to work, I decided to take our littlest one on a beer run because Daddy is an alcoholic wanted a nice cold one to take the edge off.  We're walking out to the truck when my daughter yells, "Wook Dad! Kissmuk Tree!", as she points to one of those white-lighted yard doohickeys our neighbor had on his lawn.  I was surprised since we thought she didn't have a clue about anything Christmas related.  Evidently, someone's been filling her in on what's supposed to happen this time of year (damn you, oh television!!!).  I asked her if she wanted one and, of course, she did.

Now there was no way in hell that I was going to break out the tree stand, climb up in the rafters and bring out all the crap we have to properly dress a tree.  No fresh-cut evergreen for you. Too late in the game for that, child.  However, I didn't have a problem seeing what nifty little trinkety tree-like gadget I could find at Rite-Aid to make her happy.  After all, nothing's too good for my child if it's cheap, doesn't require a special trip anywhere and can fit in the basket next to my 12 pack.

Lo and behold, a Holiday Miracle took place right before our eyes.  A Rite-Aid employee had just finished slashing their Christmas crap prices by 50%!  And what did we find?  A four-foot, fiber optic, tabletop Christmas tree for $19.99.  I'm all over that.  And so was she.  When we got it home, we set it up and she spent the remainder of the evening in awe of [what I think will end up being] the tree of the future once the robots take over.  Plus, if our phone service happens to go out, I'm pretty sure I can MacGyver something up using these fiber optic thing-a-ma-bobs.

Will this be our ongoing Christmas tradition?  I doubt it.  Rite-Aid doesn't have a good beer selection. However, the kid is happy for now and I guess that's good enough.