It is NOT Christmas

The day after Halloween, I was watching TV and a Christmas commercial came on.  And the same thought that crosses my mind every year about this time, popped into my head.  It is not time for Christmas.  I love Christmas.  It is my favorite holiday by far, and come the day after Thanksgiving I will be in full Christmas mode.  Decorating every square inch of our house with Christmas stuff, turning up the Christmas music, doing Christmas crafts, but it is not Christmas yet. 

It is the month of Thanksgiving.  I know that Thanksgiving isn’t nearly as commercial as Christmas.  And I know that during a bad economy retailers need a good holiday season to end the year in the black.  But it is not Christmas!

However all that being said, I do realize the need to plan ahead.  I didn’t say that I actually planned ahead, but that I see the need for it.   I always plan to have my Christmas shopping done early, really I do.  Christmas shopping always stresses me out.   And I don’t know how it happens, but I always end up doing last minute Christmas shopping. As you can imagine, last minute shopping in Atlanta is way less stressful, not. 

I literally was shopping for Justin on Christmas Eve of last year.  However, last year we had an excuse.  We got married on Black Friday of last year.  So the six months prior, wedding was the only thing on my mind.  Then after the wedding was the honeymoon.  So by the time we got home, it was the second week in December and we were behind on all things Christmas.

NOT THIS YEAR.

I am determined to get my Christmas shopping done early.  My goal is to have all my shopping finished on or before Black Friday.  That is a pretty lofty goal for me.  But I have taken some necessary steps to completing this.  I have already made my Christmas list.  Not only have I made my Christmas list, I also have listed next to their name, what I will buy for them.  How impressive is that? I have been working on this list for the month of October, so it is pretty much finalized. I have been doing some research, so I know what items will be cheaper online, and what items that I will need to go to the store for.  I also have a shopping trip planned next weekend to knock some of those “buy in store” items out. 

Now with that being said.  I am making quite a few gifts this year.  And I am nowhere near completing all of those.  But I have a list of that too.  Things I need to make for Christmas.  And as soon as the Christmas Festival is over, I will be a Holiday Knitting Maniac.  You can’t take all the stress out of Christmas!

So there you have it.  This will be my only mention of the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving.  I refuse to give in to the Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas hype.  I am going to use the month of November as a time of reflection of the things that I am thankful for.