Yes, I was surprised, too, but I checked the calendar, and it seems right: Christmas is coming on December 25th, which is to say, about four weeks earlier than I'm actually ready for. Last year, through compulsive activity, we had all of the Christmas cards stacked and signed three days before Thanksgiving, and into the mailbox the very next day; this year, we're at the 'you bought cards, didn't you?' stage, looking around vaguely as if they're going to leap up, waving, Here we are! like would happen if life was, say, a Disney flick.
But not to worry, because the Merchants of America have mobilized to make this the bestest Christmas ever! At least, according to the latest issue of Real Simple (I know, an inherent contradiction there, but one which is easily resolved if you think of the magazine's title as Martha Stewart-less Living), which lists a LOT of things you can mail order from people who are quite good at making beautiful little things. And not to be too snide, they really are nice -- the guy who handmakes chocolate using mint from his own garden, for example -- exquisite, I'm sure, if wasted on people like us who think that downing half a dozen Oreos with milk is near perfection.
I do enjoy reading the recipes. Maybe this year, I'll actually make those truffles....
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4 comments:
I'm surprised you're not ready for Christmas. Here in the UK they've been advertising it in the shops since the end of October. We've got all this years presents and most of next years. Plus all our Easter eggs. :-)
"Here in the UK" has such a nice ring to it. I've only been there once, a family trip to London about two months ago, but I intend to come back. Basically, two things have to happen: my daughter has to be old enough to get her own room (I'm told I can't just leave her at Heathrow), because if I have to share a room with her again and listen to Cartoon Network every night I will go absolutely ballistic (she's a great kid, I love her dearly, but GAH those cartoons...), and two, I have to learn to survive on British food, which ought not to be that tough, millions of perfectly normal people eat it every day, and they're surviving quite nicely -- but I lost four pounds (the physical kind) while I was there, wept tears of joy when finding a place that sold decent hamburgers, and on the last day was so famished I could not easily walk twenty feet. Pitiful.
I think there was a bit of a backlash here about the Christmas displays == not that that's ever stopped the supermegamerchants == because now we tend not to see much until Thanksgiving (this week). At least, where I live, which is mostly rural. Now, in the cities, its probably just exactly as you say -- all of which will disappear come December 26.
I powered through our list and got 30 of 45 cards signed and stamped last night. Who ARE these people, anyway? (g)
Well I have to say, despite the rumours, that there's a lot of excellent British food around. But, as with anywhere I guess, a lot of awful food too. I had to stay in a hotel last week and was served the worst risotto I've ever eaten. Well, I didn't eat it in the end. Rice swimming in fat.
Here in the UK... Christmas is EVERYWHERE. It drives me mad. I don't want to walk into a shop at the beginning of November and hear Christmas Carols.
We make our own Christmas cards. This year we've had them printed properly. It works out as cheap as buying them. They're based on that Breughal painting of the huntsmen. But I've superimposed Jill, Judy and myself.
I'll probably post it on my blog.
But much nearer the time!!!
Every nation has food that immigrants and visitors can't believe you actually eat. When I was in Australia, peering doubtfully at a serving of vegemite, a friend came over to me and asked, quietly, Do Americans *really* eat something called 'peanut butter and jelly'? And shuddered.
Doesn't help that I have the eating habits of a three year old. I like to say that I won't eat anything I haven't already eaten. Cheerios, anyone?
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