Christmas Tree

That's right, two posts in one day. I'm trying to make amends.

The roomie and I had decided that Saturday was a good time to get a Christmas tree. See, if you're going to be away from the week of Christmas you want to maximize your tree enjoyment without looking silly. And December 1st didn't seem to be pushing it that much. Embarassed by even the thought of carrying a Christmas tree on the tube, we headed down to the Fulham Garden Centre down by Bishop's Park, a little less than a mile away. The place was crammed full of trees and some of the poshest people ever, where you were surprised they didn't send the help to get the tree. Anyways, after much debate we for some reason decided to get a little tree still in the pot. Now, I couldn't left it to save my life, but Mark said he could carry it. The potted thing was somewhat logical as it was only a few more pounds than a cut tree but the stands were ridiculously over-priced, so in the end it was cheaper. We purchased the tree, two 'nice' ornaments and a mini-poinsetta.

Because the tree was potted, there really wasn't a way for it to be easily carried by two people, so it really was a one-person affair. And that person clearly wasn't me. It required a lot of pausing and what I can only assume to be a lot of pain, but about 3 hours later the tree made it into the front room and was adorned with the two ornaments. Clearly this wasn't going to cut the mustard, so in lieu of working on dissertation in the afternoon we hopped on the tube to Wimbledon to go to a home improvement store.

Wimbledon was a bit crazy, but B and Q wasn't too crowded. We decided on a red and silver theme and got ornaments, some colored lights, a bead garland thing and a little tree-topper. To demonstrate Christmas spirit to the masses, we got the world's most expensive string of lights to put in the front window and a fake wreath to hang in the front window. Due to a lack of heavy-duty tape they have not yet been put up. Anyways, I spent a portion of my late afternoon/early evening decorating the little tree. Before long I decided it was the cutest little tree ever. A photo shall follow soon!

In other Saturday news, I have taken a giant step of commitment towards living in London by purchasing an annual travel card. For £928, I can now travel freely anywhere within zones 1 and 2 for the next 12 months. This extends beyond my lease even! I don't know why, but it's a slightly scary step. Now I need to submit some paperwork and should get reimbursed for the ticket at work, with equal interest-free installments taken out of my monthly paychecks (before tax). If I leave the company for whatever reason, the remaining balance will be taken out of the final paycheck. So now I have this hankering to go places on the tube at lunch. Just because I can. At no additional cost! And like tak the tube back from the gym when it's raining instead of the journey costing £1 (inter zone 2 trips are cheap). Freedom people, freedom!