Christmas Time

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas cd is on repeat. Eric bought me a copy so I can listen to it in my car. Everyday for the next 28 days. My car is 13 years old and has "charm." The cd player refuses to read any burned cd, which forces me to be a law-abiding citizen and purchase cds. That's right. BUY a CD. What's that? I couldn't hear you, the 90s are calling me.

Anyhow, the siblings and I put up the Christmas tree at home. When we were really little, I remember my parents making an effort around Christmas time so we wouldn't feel left out. From middle school onwards, they stopped caring about the decorations. Then we took the initiative, but it wasn't difficult because we always had a fake tree. Since high school, my sisters and I started our own tradition of getting one special ornament every year. 

For the longest time, I always thought everyone got one present for Christmas. My mom would take us to Toys-R-Us, and we each got to pick one thing. It was the best because I cherished whatever toy I picked (usually Barbie related), instead of getting a whole bunch of random toys that I would lose interest in a few months later. It wasn't until at least 5th grade did I learn that kids got multiple gifts AND stocking stuffers.  Also, I never believed in Santa Claus. My parents would never let some random white guy take the credit for gifts when they worked long and hard to earn that money. 

This year is the first time I have ever had a real Christmas tree (granted it's only 3 feet tall). I had gone into Lowe's looking for a festive poinsettia to hang on our front porch. The pots were $8-20, and the tabletop fir was only $15.00. There were a bunch of families picking out a proper tree that had to strapped to the tops of their SUVs. While I was checking out, a mom passed me by and said "oh, look, she's got a little Charlie Brown tree." I didn't mind. Sure it's little, but it's not sad. It's my first real tree.