Does size matter?

So it's our first tree together. We went with my family to a local tree farm and after careful deliberation chose our tree. Here He is holding the base and pretending to smile while being covered in sap. (But seriously- how cute is he?)

After we got the tree centered, and chopped off of the top so that there was room so the star would actually fit on, we started to unwrap the tree.

Only after we fully unwrapped and decorated our tree did we begin to see how enormous our tree was. We could barely walk around it into the living room! And each day it was unwrapped it seemed to grow and grow. Finally after the 3rd day of moving the tree away from the wall, I wised up and called my parents. They were just giggly. With visions of the Griswald Christmas tree in their heads, they had been waiting to see how long it would take us to realize we had gotten the trees mixed! They say their tree is perfect. . . and . . . so do we. I guess. Anyone want to build a huge fire come New Years?

Pruning

I have a ton of people in my life. Simply tons. However there are very precious few who I consider close friends. I have always defined them as my "4-am friends" - other than family and my significant other I have two. These are the people who I would literally do anything in my power to help.

They were not instant friends. They were both friends of friends initially, but over time grew into true friendships. They are people that I can see once a year or once a day and be just as happy either way. Our friendship is always adapting, but the root essence of it never changes- its always there.

I like that.

Lately I have been loosing patience with friendships that have been overly demanding for what I feel is a lesser return. They put demands and impose obligations but seem to care little about my needs or desires. Since I have the spine of a 4 year-old I have been working really hard on putting limits on what I can feasibly do for and with others. It has been hard to stick to. I hate to have people upset with me, especially when I logically could help them out. But it only takes a small interaction with a "4-am" level friend to remind me what I want in a friendship. What I need.

So I realized this past weekend, in order to maintain my sanity, I may need to do some pruning. Trimming away old growth is always hard, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to maintain the healthy without it.