The good place

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. It was so good that we took zero pictures. Well, we took one for the Christmas card because everyone was there, but that's for later. 

Today we had scheduled to get our Christmas tree. Since we have moved, we've tried various cut your own places, but have only found one that we really like. It's only downside is that it's sixty miles away across the border in Wisconsin. But it's worth it. There are a lot of trees to choose from, it's reasonably priced, and even when busy it's not too crowded. Plus, there's a free cup of hot chocolate for everyone. 

Last year we didn't go there, but went somewhere much closer to home. The experience was pretty much the exact opposite of what we had come to expect. It was definitely not the good place. 

As Christmas approaches this year and we were getting things on the calendar, I wondered why we decided not to go to the good place. I was genuinely kind of baffled. But then I remembered. Last November and December we're not good. We were either trying to cope with R.'s increasingly erratic behavior or spending too much time arguing with the psychiatrist about medicine to help the increasingly erratic behavior. None of us had the margin to drive three hours round trip to tromp around looking for a tree. 

But this year we were back and enjoyed our tree hunting excursion. Pictures are a combination of mine, K 's, and TM's.

We began by starting to tie the tree on the van which is tricky because it's so tall.

But then realized that it was far easier to tie it on TM's car. 

It was cold! Just below freezing during the day. For most of the month we've been 20+ degrees warmer than that. We are all out of practice. The hot cocoa was particularly appreciated today.