Queen of the Girl Geeks

My Christmas Tree is ugly...but I'm keeping it, for now!

My Tree is not Marilyn Mason ugly, just unsightly ugly. It didn't start off that way. I actually got a really nice (or so I thought) new pre-lit tree from BJ's. It was the 1000 light jobby for $169...I splurged big time this year. It went up right before Thanksgiving because we had a big party that weekend and I wanted to attempt a festive atmosphere. When this tree first went up it looked great, things have changed. About a week ago the top string of pre-lit lights went out. AGH! Then a few two-year-olds rearranged the child-proof balls in a "creative" fashion. Then the cat got a hold of the tree skirt. Yikes!

So I tired to "fix it". First I call BJ's to find out the phone number of the people who make their "Living Home Collection Frasier Fir by BJ's". Nope...can't get it. Apparently BJ's does not know the phone number for the company that manufactures their trees. Their advice! Google it. OK, I Googled, no such luck. No number on the box, no number on the instructions, no number on the Google. BJ's next piece of advice...bring it back! HELLO! I am not going to haul my 7.5 foot weirdly decorated tree back to BJ's 3 days before Christmas only to have to redecorate the new tree. Not to mention the fact that the 2-year-old would freak if I took the tree away!

So I am resigned to have my strange conversation piece of a tree adorn my living room until the Monday after Christmas. Then I'm hauling it back to BJ's for a refund so I can do the same thing all over again next year, and I better get a good one! The good news is I won't have to store the darn thing all year in the attic.

Do I need a donut maker?

I'm thinking "No". However JCPenny seems to disagree. They have this nifty one here (see photo to the right) for a mere $129.99. It's even on sale. Save $170 off the original price. WOW, $170, that's a lot of donuts! It's called the Dough-Nu-Matic, now that's a cool name.

Ok, back to me...do I really need a donut maker? Probably not, I only eat about 3 donuts per year and they are usually the Dunkin' variety. But this is tempting. I'm kind of a kitchen gadget whore. I've got a Cuisinart Mixer, Quesadilla Maker, Snow Cone Machine, Toaster Oven, Toaster, Magic Bullet and a bunch more I'm too embarrassed to list.

So getting the donut maker would not be totally out of the realm of possibility for me...my husband likes to buy me cool gifts (fish tank, sock monkey kit, rock tumbler) I'm hard to buy for so I guess I could hit him up. The other problem is I'm not sure where I'd put this behemoth of a gadget. It's big because "A mechanical lever pushes the donut through the oil and flips it for perfect browning". Makes sense doesn't it! Maybe I could put it next to the Snow Cone Machine.

Anyway if your looking for an interesting gift for someone (me) who has quirky tastes in kitchen gear consider a gift that keeps on giving tasty treats throughout the entire year...or not.