It's a miracle! Operation Christmas Tree Disposal is finally completed. I am free of my burden. My doorstep is clutter-free and pretty again. Is it weird to say that the trip to the dump was totally fun? I had a great time. My friend, Elizabeth, showed up with her truck already full of yard waste (her husband had decided to make our trip worthwhile by pulling up a bunch of roots and stumps from their yard). He had filled it up so much that we had to figure out a way to actually get bright orange Ugly Tree to fit. This led to a lot of climbing in and out of the back of the truck, and twisting and turning of the tree from one precarious perch to another, and giggling. Then, we realized that we needed to unstrap the other stuff to strap down Ugly Tree, so it wouldn't go flying out the back en route. The alternative was me hanging my arm out the window to hold on to it, and this was not an acceptable option. So, we hopped back up to spend many minutes unsuccessfully wrestling with the winch that tightens the straps.

This was my first encounter with a winch, and I had no clue what I was doing. Elizabeth didn't either. We pushed on various metal pieces, pulled on the little crank, and then just tried some combination of all these things while yanking really hard on the straps to loosen it up. No go. Elizabeth finally said what we were both thinking (as much as I hate to admit it), "This is a time when it would be handy to have a man here. Is there a man around?" We both looked up and down the street hopefully. Nope. I called out, "Is there a man on this block?" No response. We cracked up some more, and then she called her husband, who gave us an explanation that didn't really help, and then we figured it out on our own. Yay us.

Once at the transfer station, I have to say that pitching the tree, roots, and stumps into the big hole was quite satisfying. I loved climbing up into the back, putting on the work gloves, and just chucking things as hard as I could over the side. It went by much too fast, actually. When done I had to resist the urge to run around to other people's trucks to see if I could dispose of their yard waste too. Maybe on a slow Saturday sometime I could just hang out at the dump as a "volunteer" to help others. Of course, I was completely overwhelmed looking over the edge of the gigantic hole full of garbage. How is it that we make and trash so much stuff? And where could it all possibly go?

Leaving the transfer station with a sense of accomplishment, we went off for a long celebratory lunch full of good conversation. Then, later on this evening, I had a blast hanging out with friends while watching the dippy Scary Movie 3. Some parts were really funny and just fit this day somehow. In all its strangeness, it ended up being an excellent day all around.

I loved finding out today that my mom, sister, and I all watched Something's Gotta Give on TV last night for the sole purpose of catching Diane Keaton's heartbroken crying scenes. If you've seen it, you understand. We all adore the movie itself, but that is our very favorite part, no question. It's so funny and well done, yet we all relate because we've all been there at one time (or many times) or another. There is something comforting about seeing the endless sobbing on screen, too. It makes you feel a little more okay about coming unglued sometimes.

Friday night Em and I saw the Trucks at the High Dive. And, yes, we got in our nudie photo match fix. It'd been a while, but we still ended up #1. That's right. We are the champions. Anyway, such a great show! The place was packed, and I can understand why. Those girls are a ton of fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon. One song hilariously went "There's pervs in the bushes..." and the audience sang back enthusiastically, "Pervs in the bushes!" My kind of night out.