The day I'm looking for has to be cold enough outside for a cozy fire in the fireplace. So weeks ahead I have my trusty Christmas elf, Richard, bring wood up to the house so it will be dry and in reach at a moments notice. If the day is cold and rainy, all the better! I'll even accept cold and cloudy. It just has to look cold outside. When you live in Texas and you've had more Christmases than you can count wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip flops, and the air conditioner blowing so hard the ornaments on the tree are barely hanging on, you grab and relish a day that actually feels like Christmas.
I love my family and love being with them, but this day is all mine. Everyone has to be go. No one at home but me and the dogs. No television on, no answering phones, everything stops. I already have purchased the items needed to make the scene complete. I have my cappuccino mix and my hot chocolate mix, because a girl likes to have choices. I have December issue magazines that are full of nothing but Christmas stories, goodie recipes and beautiful pictures of decorations and loving families that are always happy and never argue....ok, I know, but this is my Christmas fantasy day. I have carefully selected each magazine to feed into my delusion. All I have to do now is wait for everything to fall into place.
Then the perfect day arrives. This is it! The Christmas spirit day I've been waiting on! The lights on the Christmas tree go on and the holly and wreath on the mantle have been lit. I step outside to get the firewood, and yes it's as cold as it looks! I bring in the firewood leaving a trail of leaves and bark but I don't care. With the first click of the lighter against the wood, my day has started.
I run into the kitchen grabbing coffee cup and spoon, then spend the next ten minutes deciding if I want cappuccino or hot chocolate. This is not a day for indecisiveness, I've got to get to my day! (I thought about mixing them both together, but thought better of it - cappuccino won out.) As me and my steaming coffee cup curl up in Richard's chair (it's mine when he's not home), a sense of joy goes through me. The only sounds are the crackling of the fire and the dog's noises as they chase rabbits or squirrels in their sleep. I look around the room and take in the sights. Each ornament on the tree has a memory. I look at the hand prints of Amber and Kayla that have been hanging on the tree for the past 20 years. Then right underneath, the new little hand print of Austin hanging there for the first time. I look at all the presents wrapped with beautiful bows and acknowledge how blessed my family is. I sink back into the recliner being careful not to spill my hot beverage, and with a pull of the handle the footrest goes up. That is the cue for the dogs to come running to see who is getting up in the chair with me first. I scoot over and let Missy in. We snuggle in and I look at my stack of Christmas magazines getting ready to dive in. I look one more time around...now it's Christmas.
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