How many days?

Just in case anyone is interested........... as of today, there are 89 days till Christmas. (Which of course will go by in a heart-beat.)

I was talking to (eMailing) my cousin F a couple of days ago, wondering out loud why the stores are blending three holidays into one-- Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. (HallowThankMas?) She said that the retailers don't want to be keeping their holiday items in the warehouse or in the back of the store when those items could be out on the selling floor, especially for the people who receive their Christmas Club checks in early October. In September, when all the parents (mothers, mostly) are going back into the stores looking for school clothes and supplies, out will come the Halloween items.... so of course, while the parent is looking for notebooks and pencils, the kids are looking at masks and costumes.

And with such a short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I guess the retailers feel that they may as well just get all the turkey-stuff out there with the Christmas decorations. After all, how many turkeys can one person buy anyway? In our own house, I don't really decorate for Thanksgiving..... I have a few very pretty porcelain turkeys that I use for a Thanksgiving centerpiece on the dining room table, but by the time my husband is carving the turkey on the kitchen counter, the entire house is filled with decorated trees, happy angels, smiling Santas, and jingle-belled reindeer. (In the first place, I don't think turkeys are very pretty.... and the few that I have bought over the years passed inspection because they have gentle faces and colorful feathers-- very un-turkey like, if you ask me.)

Anyway...... mark your calendar: 89 days left till Christmas.