Holidays

Blech--I've been cleaning. And now my hands smell of cleaning supplies. And not the green apple or citrus stuff--I'm talking hard core. Ick! I considered wearing gloves, but I've never done that, so I didn't. Guess there's a first time for everything....

So yesterday a friend of mine told me that after Wednesday (Halloween), it'll be Christmas. I wasn't quite sure how to take that, whether she was complaining, excited, or what. And while it is weird to see the Chrismas stuff out in stores, in my mind, it's still way far off in the distant future. If for no other reason than that Thanksgiving is a big deal for me.

Autumn is my favorite time of year--it has the trifecta of holidays, and all of them are suitable for decorations of some sort. The rest of the year, barring Easter, our house remains unadorned. But in the first few weeks in October, Halloween decorations come down from the attic, then after Halloween they're paired down to include just the plain pumpkin, berry, and autumnal leaves selection. And then it all gets replaced at the beginning of December.

As kids we never did anything for Thanksgiving. We only had Thursday-Sunday off of school, so we had the big Turkey Day and then we had left-overs and a long weekend. These days my boys have the entire week off, so we've traveled often during that time in recent years. It's nice because it's the cusp of Christmas. Decorations are going up, it's a festive holiday, and yet you don't have the worries over transporting presents or interfering with holiday parties and other committments. And I've decided I actually like to shop on Black Friday. My mom had me brainwashed--Worst Shopping Day of the Year!--STAY AWAY FROM THE MALL!--but then I went on my own, and it was great. Bustling, certainly, but I steered clear of some major stores, and it was fine. Many a good deal was found and taken advantage of.

So while I'm already Internet browsing for Christmas gifts, that holiday is still months away. I have no doubt that those months will fly by very quickly though.

****UPDATE**** Halloween is officially over. Target had their Halloween stuff (except candy) cleared out today, replaced by Christmas stuff. I should just have my boys dress as Santa and an elf next year: get us all in the spirit.