Porphyrogene!

SO… Christmas has come early in our household this year, and it will remain for about… 2 months.

There are justifiable reasons as to why it has done so, not only including impatience.

First of all… I am an adult. I can decide when Christmas is coming and how long it will stay.  I no longer have to patiently wait until mid-December to set up decorations and a be-decked tree.  I no longer have to wait till Christmas morn to give or receive gifts.  Also, as an adult, I make money and can decide when and on what I will spend it. Santa more closely obeys the wishes of adults and he will deliver sooner if you pay expedited shipping. 

I think waiting to set up decorations until a week before thanksgiving shows great restraint on my behalf considering how susceptible to sparkly things I am.  Do you know how dangerous big craft stores are to people who have a racoon-like fascination with shiny objects?  They are dangerous, my friend - very, very dangerous. Iridescence is on the rise.  Last year I searched high and low for iridescent Christmas decor with a small amount of success: some glass balls, a tiny dollar store tree, etc.  This year iridescent decorations are EVERYWHERE, and of course I now include Green/Gold ornaments in my Christmas decor hunting repetoire. But I get off topic — The sparkliness is everywhere… and especially dangerous is its overwhelming presence in the form of sparkly sprigs of plastic flora in dollar bins.  I am unable to suppress the instinctual motions that accompany spotting sparkliness.
1) Freeze.
2) Identify Source.
3) Move in to examine.
4) Touch.
Try as I might, I cannot stop.  Must. Touch. Sparkly.

When said sparkly is for sale - I must examine the price.  When the price is less than a Dollar, I black out.  Hopefully before reaching the cash register (yes. that’s where I head. my credit card tells me so.) a well-meaning shopping companion of mine will pry the sparkly from my white knuckled grip, escort me out of the building, and maintain a close watch till I come-to.  This battle will continue till late February when the craft stores have pretty much cleared out their holiday sparkles.

Back to the point… I have officially decorated a small, fake tree in our living room and dragged out 80% of our other decorations.  Yes, our Halloween decorations are still up.  Yes, our foyer has been 1/4 painted for the last 2 months.  What about the quilt I’m making and the paper mache ship I’m working on? The cape for my nephew? The Apron for my sister-in-law? The tutus I have material for? The wood carving for above the mantle? Shut up. I can stop anytime I want to, okay?

On our trip this past weekend, my husband and I decided to get up at 4:30 in the a.m., leave our hotel room, drive to Target, and stand outside in line for 3 hours in order to buy a Wii.  It was to be a mutual Christmas Gift to each other - our only gift to each other.  Now, I’ll end the suspense early and tell you that we were successful and nabbed one of the 56 Wii’s that were in store that day (they opened at 8:00 a.m. and were sold out of them by 8:05 a.m.), however I’d like to share with you some thoughts on the process.  I am constantly being reminded that you "live and learn" and I resent it.

Notes for future reference:
1) When leaving the house in the late fall/beginning of winter, do not accept it when your husband observes that he left his coat behind while you are getting into the car to leave.  Go back for it.
2) When deciding to buy the most popular "toy" in the marketplace, and you accept, in theory, that you will need to stand outdoors and wait till a store opens for said item - PLAN ACCORDINGLY.  Chairs, heavy quilts, portable space heaters, outdoor fireplaces, torches, disposable handwarmers, and furnaces are all appropriate.
3) Bring coffee.
4) Three hours is not a short amount of time and patty cake will not suffice.  Bring a board game. Bonus points for successfully involving the other 8 crazies who showed up at 5:30 a.m. in a game of Twister.
5) Bring coffee. And donuts.

Just some pointers from me to you.
And if you have it in the budget - The wii is a good time AND a work out. My right arm is very sore.  Another tip? LISTEN TO THE WII WHEN IT TELLS YOU TO CLEAR A SPACE AROUND YOU BEFORE BEGINNING TO PLAY. IT MEANS IT. 

Why do I so vehemently reccommend this?  Because I punched a full-of-water pub glass with my thumb while ‘bowling’.  The pub glass was fine.  My thumb became unconcsious for a while and when it woke up, it decided to demonstrate what it might feel like if I slammed it in an oven hot car door.  Yea.

It glowed for a good hour. I can’t say as much for the little fake tree that I decorated because although I have a string or two of multicolored lights and a bunch (read 20+ strings) of white lights… the decorations on it are green and gold… so I need gold/yellow lights. Yes, I do.