I stand by what I say...

Christmas is a disease! I mean it!

After my blog last week and a Facebook status update my community of readers is split down the middle about whether or not I should even be considering decorating my house for Christmas before Thanksgiving is over. Here is the way I see it:

1. I love Thanksgiving. I love turkey and dressing. I love Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Cheesecake. I love the Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love reading the newspaper advertisements and planning my shopping attack for Black Friday. What I don't care for is that Thanksgiving has no commercial appeal to the mass markets. There are no gifts to buy and wrap, no real decorations that qualify as purely Thanksgiving. After Halloween is over I turn around my Jack-o-Lanterns and make them pumpkins. NO FUN! I do have the Little People Mayflower and Thanksgiving Feast set which I think is so cute and I play with more then my kids do.
2. How can you not start thinking about Christmas when desperate retailers have already had Santa make his big debut at the local mall. That did freak me out, but not as bad as the parents that were there having their children's picture taken with him last week.
3. With the economy, the war, and the election, it seems like everyone needs a little Christmas cheer to get them out of this funk. There can be no doom and gloom with Christmas in the air.
4. I am from the school of thought that I like to get all of my Christmas work stuff done early because I like to enjoy the Christmas fun stuff. I don't think it gets any better then a hot cup of tea sitting next to my 14 foot Christmas tree with the fire going, blanket on, curled up next to my husband and kids and watching one of those cheesy Christmas movies from the 70s. It isn't very often that we slow down these days to enjoying being with one another.
5. I don't want to diet I want to BAKE!!! Right now I am on the post vacation diet, I have been eating good, I want to make (and eat) candy, cookies, and other yummy treats and to not worry about it because it is Christmas!
6. I want to shop! I love to shop for other people. I try to buy nice things for my friends and family because I like to treat them to special things. Right now I am in a holding pattern of to shop or not to shop... again the economy.

Just so that you know there is no way I would put up Christmas before Thanksgiving because I just don't have the time. As I has mentioned before I have a little problem when it comes to Christmas decor as well as a husband who has a hard time letting go of our children's baby clothes those two things have collided in the attic so is ALL has to come down and be dealt with.

I think that a little early Christmas may do us all some good. Sorry!

The Bread Bandwagon

So my sister the overachiever, has recently blogged a lot about the joys of baking bread. I think she was tanting me. I love bread! I love warm bread on a cold day with butter and homemade strawberry jam. What I don't like it the time that it takes to make the stuff. If the bread fairy would come to my house and fill it with the smell of baked goodness I would not only eat it everyday but I would also be as big as a house! Today unmotivated to take Abby to the grocery store with me and feeling the doom of day 2 thawed chicken. I came home and made bread today. Now don't confuse my bread making to that of Martha Stewart or Lindsay Callahan. Rachel's concept of bread making requires a Tastefully Simple mix, a can of beer, and 3 Tablespoons of butter. 50 minutes later, fresh bread- YUM! Now the question is what to do with the chicken? I am tried of the grill, I am ready for the fall weather to come back (last week was just a teaser). I want to have "homemade" soup (ie- soup with chicken and whatever is in my veggie drawer and pantry around dinner time) and my warm bread. Making soup at my house requires the preparation of 3 different dinners, because Jack will not eat it, Abby may, and Steve wants big chunks and a little broth. I envy the mom who prepares one dinner for everyone and if they eat it great and if not so what. HMMMM... Maybe we will just go out to eat and forget the whole mess.