This Time of Year Strikes Terror In the Hearts of Men

What is it that triggers the "Christmas Shopper Terror" in you? For me it's when I realize Halloween is only a few weeks away and I know once we get there, the next 4 months are just stress, a flurry of activity, then it's the New Year and we're looking at it all like a dream that lasts only a moment.

Here in my part of California it always gets dark early and rains in September. Somehow there is at least one rainy night that I'm out in it. It almost always rains for Christmas (we don't get snow) and a few days before. Even tho I have most of my shopping done (thank you Ribbon) I usually end up going out for stocking stuffers or something just a couple of days before Christmas. The feeling I get in Sept. when I'm out at night in the rain is the exact same feeling I get when I'm out doing last minute Christmas shopping at night in the rain. It's the rainy night in September that fills me with the feelings of those few days before Christmas, and that's when it hits me. The race is about to begin and the next 3 months will be the fastest of my life.

We get through Halloween pretty easy because we're in an "incorporated" area, and our side of the street has no sidewalks, not many street lights, and our house has a security light that only goes on if someone steps in the yard. Not a very inviting house on Halloween, so we don't get any kids. It's funny, most people in our neighborhood think I'm scary every day, I can't imagine why they don't show up on Halloween when that should be a "good" thing. LOL.

Now we're on our way to Thanksgiving. I bought the turkey yesterday. I'm thinking I really need to find time to clear off my dining room table so we can actually eat on it. I know that if I blink between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Christmas will be here and gone all too soon. I'm finally old enough to truly appreciate Christmas for what it's supposed to be, so I hate the fact that it's here and gone so fast. Altho I'm not as gift-oriented as I was when I was younger, my children have not taken over that perspective. LOL.

If you don't like fighting the crowds, wasting time looking for parking, never sure if you got the right gift, having to figure out what the right gift is, you might want to take a look at this. Ribbon, the Gift of Choice is the perfect answer, especially now when they're saying you can't buy gift cards to certain stores because they may file bankruptcy tomorrow. Sharper Image went under with a ton of people holding gift cards that weren't worth anything. If the above describes you, take a look here now. There's a couple you can get 5 for the price of 4, and many qualify for free shipping.

How do you feel about the holidays? (be gentle please)