by the chimney with care…Ok, you know the story. I would say they were hung with some grimace but this year I actually hung them with a smile on my face. Every year I dig that same old tree out of the attic and put stem A in it's location, stem B, etc. until I erect this Charlie Brown tree. Now I do have fond memories of buying this tree with my dad on Black Friday a few years back (along with 5 Shop Vac's – and you wonder where I got my OCD from LOL). My dad and I went to bed at around 3 am and woke up an hour later to hit the local Home Depot. It was my one and only trip out on Black Friday and one I remember with a smile because I picked up this "great" pre-lit tree for $99. From the second I took it out of the box it was not what I had in mind. It did not resemble the giant one I saw on display but I put it up year after year.
This year I vowed it would not make it's way out of the attic and even debated a real tree (and trust me, someone with OCD should not have something she has to water and still drops stuff on the carpet). This year I was eye-balling the 9' tree at Costco and Saturday we made the investment. It is beautiful. Pete even got the holiday spirit and went outside and hung lights (have to photograph that) while I tackled this 400 lb tree. It is beautiful, pre-lit and does not drop needles. Ok, so it does not smell like a tree however, that is where Yankee Candle comes to the rescue.
The kid's took over the decorating today and tonight I took all 500 ornaments they loaded on the bottom and distributed them up the 9'. 
Of course I had to tell them stories about all their favorite ornaments……..
My lead lower limb tree decorators……who could care less if the ornaments drag on the ground
Note: the middle limb decorator is too old to post for me.
Yes, I am already dreading taking this down (the day after Christmas I might add) and finding a place to store this monstrosity but for now it has taken the holiday grimace off my face. Did I mention the holiday shopping is done too? We won't even go into my parent's yearly album they always get (ok, so 2007's is still on my floor).