Cutting Down My First Tree

So, now that I'm a homeowner, I have to do homeowner stuff, and that was evident this weekend. The first of December was a great day to cut down a Christmas tree and shovel snow. Saturday was a busy day. Kathryn and I got up early to cut down a Christmas tree for my house. It was her first Christmas tree cut, and my hundredth, so she was able to witness my legendary bloodhound tree-finding abilities. I was off my top form this year. The weather was in the single digits, and after the snow started midway through, I couldn't find a good Blue Spruce. I picked out a smallish tree, six feet, because I didn't know how much room I would have with my ceilings. Fortunately, I was able to fit it in the back of my Saturn Vue. When we left the tree farm, I didn't realize how bad the snow actually was. We were in the midst of a decent storm with snow and wind.



That afternoon we headed downtown to watch the UW women's hockey team play Duluth (seriously, giving up a goal with 30 seconds left in regulation and then 15 seconds into overtime, what's up with that?). By the time we left, we had a few inches, so Jake brought out our industrial-strength snowblower while I shoveled the walk.

Not snow, nor getting stuck six times between my house and Kathryn's apartment and the Fieldhouse, nor anything else can come between myself and sports. We headed over to her apartment from my house, and I got stuck a few times trying to get out of her driveway and road. We drove a few blocks through what was now sleet and rain and got stuck again trying to pull into her friend's driveway to park. We stopped at Lucky's (a bar/sports bar across the street) before the game and then headed over to the match...but I wish I didn't. The Badgers got out to a good lead in the first game, they were up 19-11 at one point, and then proceeded to lose that game and the next two games to lose the match 3-0. Once they lost the lead, they were never really able to get their confidence and swagger back. Oh well, at least there's always next year.