Christmas is a holiday that is most looked forward to in our household. It is our favorite season because we have so many beautiful decorations to put for it.
The weekend after Thanksgivings finds us packing away all of our Fall decorations---including our Fall music---and dragging box after box of Christmas ornaments and decorations up from our basement. The first day of December was heralded with us blasting Christmas music defiantly to the 80 degree weather outside. It has been my sister and my fervent wish that one day we would have snow Christmas morning. We had a sprinkling of snow last year and are supposed to have some next week. Oh, what bliss! To awaken to snow falling lightly through the trees and frosting over our yard. We are ready for it. We have an ample supply of firewood, cider, and our tree is lit and decorated.
Yes, it is only December 5th and we already have our tree up in our living room and festooned with lights and ornaments. The weekend after Thanksgiving saw us in the parking lot of Home Depot with our Nana and Abuelito, ready to pick out a tree. It usually takes us a good forty-five minutes to an hour to choose the "one" and undoubtedly, it will be the one that we first laid eyes one.
Last year, the helpers of Home Depot threw themselves into our Christmas choosing whole-heartedly. They held the trees, spun them, lifted them, carried them thither and fro, and offered general comments and opinions. This year, the big elves of the Christmas lot were not as helpful as they had been in past years. We were left to do much of the lifting, carrying, and spinning to ourselves. We searched and searched through the bins of trees, yet we could find none to our satisfaction. Suddenly, mom inched towards me, hissing, "Hannah! Look at those people over there! I think they just pulled out our tree."
I glanced over at the customers examining the tree. It was tall, with well-placed branches, and was the perfect shape. The word of the "perfect tree" passed through the Andrade ranks like wildfire. Quickly and quietly, we began to edge forward, pressing in and about them. I think we must have overwhelmed them, for they began to ever so slowly, slip away. The tree was ours! Victory was ours.
