Choke, choke!

A couple of days ago I was reminded there are approximately eight weeks till (get ready for it) Christmas. Choke, choke, cough, cough, wheeze, wheeze.  Seriously folks how is that possible? Where in the world has the year gone?

Yesterday my granddaughter visited for the day and while we were out for lunch we stopped by a little shop that just a few weeks ago was filled with all sorts of trinkets for Christmas, and the proprietor told me then it was not too early to 'pick up a few things'.  I told him we would be back.

Imagine my surprise when we stopped in yesterday and I found there were very few Christmas trinkets left.  I was very, very disappointed because I thought for sure nobody would be thinking about Christmas shopping this early.  Well, So much for buying 'just because' trinkets for stocking-stuffers.

However, I decorate my tree every year with birds and red roses and I did manage to find two adorable little Wrens wearing winter caps with scarves around their necks and an intricate red Humming Bird covered in 'spark-lies'.   All three are going to make wonderful additions to the tree.  I wish I could have purchased more things, what a bummer I didn't shop the first day we went in there.

Yes, I hear you saying I should have started doing my shopping sooner rather than later and I used to do that. There was a time I would have all my shopping done by the end of August.  Now wondering why I stopped that practice?  It worked so well at the time.  Maybe I stopped when we decided as a family not to buy a present for each person, and went for a round-robin exchange instead with a limit of three gifts (all under a certain price range). That sure took the pressure off the old wallet, plus it meant I didn't HAVE to budget the Christmas expense over such a large area of time.

Finally, the older I got I discovered really don’t like shopping in the Christmas crowds.  Plus, the noise, hustle, bustle and smothering crowds in the stores don’t exactly thrill me anymore.  I'd much rather sit in my toasty warm office perusing the old Internet where with a finger on my mouse and a 'click, click here, a click, click there...POOF....my shopping is done.

Wow, I just re-read this and it kind of makes me sound like a "Baaa Humbug" kind of person.  That's not the case, trust me.  I enjoy the holiday music, the smell of gingerbread cookies baking in the oven, the red, green, yellow, orange and white sparkling strings of lights.  Then there are my favorite Christmas movies like: We're No Angels, Elf, About a Boy, While You Were Sleeping and a dozen or so more. (Sigh, I’ve so little time to watch!) I decorate just about every room in my home with treasures of old as well as new items that become old treasures.  I like unexpected company, and surprise packages in the mail.  I wish and hope every year that come Christmas morning I pull open the drapes and find a blanket of snow covering lawns, trees and shrubs.  No, I’m definitely not a Baaa Humbug person at all.

There you have it, as I mentioned, there are about eight weeks left till Christmas so little time in which to accomplish so much.  Me thinks we should probably all get busy shopping or else those trinkets we see in the shops today just might be gone tomorrow.

Oh, and should I mention, there are only nine weeks left till the year is over.
Gulp!