December

For my family, Christmas day always surprises us. It's there, looming around us--kind of like this massive Santa calendar above. We buy the presents, get the days of work off, and (probably) buy a tree that we (hopefully) decorated. Still, Christmas day hits us like a surprise IRS audit. December is strange in California. California Christmastime has a crisp kind of bright warm with an edge of chilly wind, a lot of fallen leaves that make it look like fall still, and it gets dark way too early. I wear a lot of coats and scarves as my hands and nose freeze. It's really dry and my little sister's hands get red and raw. Around this time, I envy the animals that hibernate. I wonder what they dream about? Ah well, I guess i was made a human and not a brown bear on purpose.



In my small town, Santa finally brought us a Dollar Tree. For the past month, there's been a special on peppermint bark--for a dollar! And every Thursday, which is when Dollar Tree gets shipments in, we compete with all the rest of Fallbrook to get this great deal. So far, Fallbrook's winning. I rolled in there around 10 a.m. and every box of peppermint bark had been gobbled up. Greedy people! Leave some for the needy!

Isn't this lady's outfit great? And that look of composed dismay--exactly what I wish I looked like at the Dollar Tree on a Thursday morning.

Figuring out how to add pictures is a great help--you feel so clever!

Well, happy December and don't let Christmas day get you down. There's still New Years!