"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall."- Larry Wilde

Yeah OK, but what about the shape? This week I was over at a friend's house and she had just gotten her tree. It was very big and she was very happy with it, but I have to say that it was not, um, what I would expect. It had a few big gaps along the stem. Let me also mention that my parents, particularly in recent years, have gotten the most gigundo (mom's word) tree. Seriously, from floor to ceiling and just as wide. But always very even and filled in, a criteria that I always had for selecting a beautiful Christmas Tree.

This morning we set out to find this years' Yuletide Topiary. The plan was to have the boys' help us pick it out, and we have been talking to them about it all week. We got a very early start, so we stopped off at Homebase, Ireland's answer to Home Depot. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Christmas Tree place the boys were asleep. So I ran out and picked one out by myself. I think it looks like a very nice shorter tree, with a UFO hovering above it. Tom keeps suggesting different ways to cover up the huge bald spot, while I am opting to try to accept our tree for who he is.

For me, the tree is all about setting the mood in the room and decorating it all together- which we did.

We got the tree at Blackrock College (google it), a secondary school for boys that has a long history and a very strong alumni network. Anyway, it was great to see a little of that campus. I jumped out the car and there were students all over the place volunteering at the tree sale. The school does it every year, and they raise money for St. Vincent de Paul. Two of them greeted me right away, and saw me through the whole process, from pulling out as many trees as I wanted to see, to putting it in the stand and tying it to the car. They were so polite and hard working and had a lot of enthusiasm for the school. It was very impressive.

If we lived here permanently, we would love to have our boys on the track for Blackrock. Since we are here for an undetermined amount of time, we found a great school for the boys and we just found out that they were accepted for the fall. Yippie!