Nollaig Shona!

Nollaig Shona! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! This Christmas, I woke up just as the sun was starting to rise over the pine trees in my backyard. It couldn't have been too early, though, because it took me forever to wake my parents up!
 

 
With Addy under my arm, I tiptoed down the stairs even though everyone, including a very excited Coconut and grumpy Licorice (they get presents on Christmas, too!), was already awake.
 

 
Look at all the presents!
 
As you may have noticed, my family has a funky looking Christmas tree. Since this is our first Christmas in Maine, Daid decided to start a new Christmas tradition. Instead of cutting down and killing a tree every year or buying a plastic tree, we could plant a tree and reuse it every Christmas! The only downside is that it needs a humongous, ugly pot.
 

 
My first present was from Mam and Daid. Isn't the bag pretty? Inside of it was...
 

 
A sparkly purple scarf! Go raibh maith agat Mam agus Daid!
 

 
The next gift came all the way from Ireland! I could tell it was from Seanmháthair right away. She never wraps her presents!
 

 
I got a purple polka dot sweater, a magenta hat, some jeggings, and purple shoes. Go raibh maith agat Seanmháthair!
 

 
The next present was obviously from Santa.
 

 
A pink winter coat! Thanks Santa!
 

 
This present was from my friend Dani!
 

 
It was a homemade pink t-shirt, green striped capris, and frilly skirt! Dani remembered my favorite colors! I can't wait to wear these once the weather gets warmer. Thanks Dani!
 

 
The last gift was from Rudolph.
 

 
It was two My Little Ponies! Thanks so much Rudolph!
 
Just as I was about to run upstairs to try on all of my new clothes and play with my ponies, Mam and Daid brought out ANOTHER gift! I started jumping up and down when I realized that it was a...
 

 
...NEW CAMERA! Now I don't have to take pictures with Mam's phone anymore! Go raibh maith agat Mam agus Daid!
 
Soon after I finished opening all of my presents, Daid and I walked over to the Southern MTTB to invite some of his work friends over for Christmas dinner. When we got there, I suddenly had a strange sense of deja vu.
 

 
Standing almost exactly where Caroline had stood a week earlier was yet another girl I had never seen before! She looked slightly impatient, almost as if she were waiting for someone. Daid suggested that I check and see if she needed anything.
 

 
"Hi," I said suspiciously, "I'm Saoirse. Are you looking for somebody?"
 
"Yeah. I'm looking for Mr. Linch." Her words stung with annoyance.
 

 
I threw my arms up in surprise. "ANOTHER NEW STUDENT?!"
 

 
"I'm here to complain, actually." She rolled her eyes at my dramatic reaction. "My mom sent me here for a boarding school. Neither of us knew it would involve time travel! Based on your ridiculous...I mean interesting clothes, I'm guessing you're from 2012? I'm from 1974, and so far it looks like America has done anything but improve. Do you have any idea how many species have gone extinct in the past 38 years? Or how much the sea level has risen? I'm not impressed."

I was a bit hurt by the way she had spoken to me, but I tried to brush it off. Besides, Mam and Daid were alive in the 70s! I bet they would love to meet Julie, and maybe Julie would warm up a little if she met them?

To her disappointment, I ignored her complaining and invited her to come have Christmas dinner with me and the rest of the Southern MTTB students. She actually smiled and said that sounded "groovy."

After Julie and I got to my house, I changed into my fancy green polka dot dress. Only minutes later I heard a knock on the door.

It was Caroline!

"Dia duit Caroline! Merry Christmas!" I greeted her. Despite the frosty air biting at my arms and legs, I introduced her to Julie. Thankfully, Julie was much more polite to Caroline than she was to me. Caroline would've been much more offended!

Kaya and Josefina arrived soon after. Josefina timidly hid behind Kaya as I introduced them to Julie. The "hello"s and "nice to meet you"s seemed to take forever as I hopped up and down to keep warm! 

 
 When we got inside, Caroline, Kaya, and Josefina placed all the food they had brought on a little plastic table. Unfortunately, the five of us had to sit at the Kid Table. It was tiny--there was barely enough room!

We talked around that dinky table for hours. Through our ever-changing conversations I began to learn more and more about the two newbies. Despite her harsh outer shell, Julie is actually a lot of fun to be around. She also obviously has a huge thing for the environment and animals. Her and Kaya found something in common there!

Caroline seems a bit prim and proper to me (she scolded Kaya for eating with her hands, and me for not placing my napkin in my lap), yet somewhat free spirited. She went on and on about sailing on lake Ontario with her papa. Well, on and on until Julie bluntly told her to shut up. I can already tell that this is going to be a very...interesting year.
 

Merry Christmas from all of us!

~ Saoirse