Every time Christmas rolls around, I’m reminded of that random snowstorm we had in 2004.
It was the first time I’d remembered seeing snow actually stick to the ground and not melt in an instant.
In fact, I think we were more interested in the snow than our Christmas presents that year.
Most of all, it also reinforced the fact that we were not prepared for such an event and had to wash plenty of wet socks, pants, and soaked shoes.
I was also a little salty because it was my junior year in high school and didn’t have a chance to order my letterman jacket until the spring.
You can only imagine how annoyed I was when I had my jacket ready the following year and we had the usual tropical temperatures.
Luckily, I got to use my letterman through college and savored the warmth when it snowed every fall, winter, and spring in San Angelo.
But, here at home it’s been dry cleaned and put away in storage for the sake of things.
And that makes plenty of sense since we’re looking at temperatures near 80 degrees this Christmas.
Mom isn’t looking forward to that since she was planning on not having to turn on the air conditioner with cooler temperatures earlier this week.
If anything, I’m glad because it means I can wear my Crocs everywhere when we do those last-minute shopping sprees.
Even then, I’m trying to keep mom focused and making lists for the food and beverages we need while avoiding any late present hunts.
In fact, if it isn’t on its way via Amazon or some other online source, we’re pretty tapped out for toys, candy, and other present junk.
We make it a point to periodically buy gifts throughout the year and hide them really well so that no one finds them until Christmas.
The only problem is that sometimes mom forgets her hiding spots and we end up finding a missing present a day or two later.
Plus, as Santa’s helper, I’m the designated gift wrapper.
I’ve got to confess that I’m terrible with the whole mess – scissors, paper, tape, labels, and so forth.
If I had my way, there wouldn’t even be any bows or curling ribbon on things either.
Sadly, due to complaints from my sister, I’m forced to do all of the above and am promptly teased if my wrapping skills are worse than the year before.
I maintain that it would just be easier and faster to use gift bags and take advantage of stuffing those little guys full of stuff rather than a million odd-shaped boxes under the tree.
We’re not even going to discuss how lopsided mom’s favorite tree was this year and it fell over to destroy about a dozen ornaments.
A new tree stand helped right that problem – Monday morning – you know, only a handful of days before Christmas.
The damaged ornaments were beyond repair and mom has mourned all of her vintage losses since then.
We’ll have to decide the fate of the lopsided tree itself after the holidays.
Speaking of which, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas!
