YIKES !!

It comes at the same time every year, and every year at this time I am concerned because I am left wondering "where did the time go ?" Wasn't it JUST Easter ?? Memorial Day ?? Independence Day ?? Labor Day ?? The first day of Autumn ??

Tomorrow is November 2 .... and that means .... there are only 53 days until Christmas Day. YIKES !!

I am not so much concerned with the holiday itself as it is one of my favorites (the TRUE Christmas - with the actual meaning and celebration intact, and the festivities we all enjoy) - but the SHOPPING - did I mention that I HATE shopping with a passion, no matter what time of the year ?? Even grocery shopping is stressful for me ... I like to go in ONE store, get exactly what I came for quickly, and leave ... even more quickly. So actually wandering through toy isles and toy stores and endless other retailers (with or without a list) is just truly angonizing for me.

One story from a few years ago - I was VERY pregnant with Cherub 6 (who was due in early Dec but was 1 week late on this particular day) DadToCherubs and I went to Toys R Us together to get a few last minute toys .... there were grown adults using walkie-talkies for efficiency, shreiking and squalking from all over the store to such a degree that the overhead intercom could not be heard .... there were adults literally THROWING toys over top of isles into the arms of a waiting shopping companion, both barking orders to one another while furiously scanning the shelves (and suspiciously eyeing the carts of passers-by) .... and one lady (I use the term LADY loosely here) actually was physically violent with another lady over a remote control vehincle of some kind of which there was 1 left on the shelf and both "grabbed" it at the same time. GOODNESS GRACIOUS !!

Christmas ... only 53 days left ... and the World Wide Web is at my fingertips (with a highspeed connection to boot). I think this year we are going to try to do the bulk of our shopping online - we did that several years ago, and our quality of life in November and December improved significantly as a result. The main benefit is that shopping online will limit the number of trips we have to make into the stores, having to encounter people who are in their best "holiday spirit" (NOT !!).

What ever happened to the PEACE of Christmas time ?? And where in the world did the GOOD WILL TO MEN go ?? I know ... they have gone completely out the window !! I suppose they disappeared when large-scale shopping centers and stores began, and when Christmas became so focused on material goods.

Yep - I think we shall shop online this year - and while UPS, USPS, and FexEx sweat the details, we will spend some more time working at the Food Pantry in town (volunteering), maybe visit a nursing home or two, make some ornaments for our tree, bake some cookies, maybe sing some carols ...

Hummm ... I can feel my stress-level dropping as I type. HA !

Update:
IT IS NOW 949p ON NOVEMBER 14th ... SO THE COUNTDOWN IS NOW (drumroll please)....
40 Days
3 Hours
11 Minutes