Wednesday, November 21, 2012

If it makes you happy…

You guys know what time of year it is.

It’s that in-between time of year.  For those of us up here in the Great White North, our Thanksgiving is a distant memory.  (Seriously.  It felt like it was way early this year, like it was a million years ago now.)  Our neighbours to the South will be giving thanks (and gearing up for Black Friday) tomorrow.

Halloween was a few weeks ago, and the ghosts and skeletons have long since been put away.  (Though a bucket of candy still sits on my dining room table, and I still have mini chocolate bars abound.  Don’t judge.)

Yes.  It’s that time of year.  I still have out my gourds and fall leaves and little pumpkins, but they just don’t feel right anymore.  I’m getting the itch, more and more with each passing day, to bust out the holly and the snowmen and the jingle bells.

christmas_snoopy

And yet, there’s a part of me that feels it’s still just a teensy bit early.

It’s been a common topic of discussion over the past few weeks on my Facebook newsfeed.  Slowly, my friends’ statuses are rolling around to the Christmas theme…

“Is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?”  “I’m putting up my Christmas tree today!!”  “My shopping is allllmost done…”  “Going to watch Elf tonight!  Yipee!”

There’s a part of me that bubbles with excitement and yearns to join them.  And also a part of me that wants to cry out, “RELAX dudes.  It’s not time yet!!!”  There’s also a clear divide in the people who comment out there – the ones who cry, “Go for it!!”, and the ones who lament, “It’s way too frigging early.”

Yesterday, I even saw my cousin Bucky write on a friend’s enthusiastic Christmas post:  “You’re making me hate Christmas.”

Honestly, I giggled when I saw this post from The Bloggess (aka Jenny) last week, where she’s outraged by her neighbour taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Christmas ones all on the same day.  But she’s kind of right.  Doesn’t it feel like everyone’s taken their healthy dose of Holiday Pills maybe just a *wee* bit early this year?

christmas lights overkill

I’d say at least half my little town has their Christmas lights up and on already.  When I went for my walk last night - (yes, I’m braving the mean streets of Q-town in the dark this week, because…well…I need to.  I’ll risk my life for exercise, that’s how damned dedicated I am.) – I was surprised to see so many Christmas trees were already up and on display in front windows.

It feels really frigging early.

Maybe that’s because growing up, my parents never decorated early.  My Dad’s birthday was December 10th, and the weekend closest to his birthday was usually the time my mom would let us drag out the tree and get the decorations out.  Dad always had the outside lights up when it was semi-warm in November, but refused to turn them on until the first of December.

Now, as an adult decorating on my own, I do like to get the holiday cheer rolling just a little bit earlier at my joint.  I generally put my decorations up in late November/early December.  And that feels acceptable to me.   I love how my house looks when Christmas has puked all over it.  And I must confess… I’ve already listened to my Bieber Christmas CD several times.  (but not much because Dallas Smith is still reigning supreme on my jukebox.)

Justin_Bieber-Mistletoe-music_video

On the flip side, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about happiness these days. To be fair, that’s probably because my book club is reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen RubinBut it also ties in with this way-too-early explosion of Christmas spirit being displayed by so many this year (and it feels like more and more are catching on to it every year.)

Really, are they causing any harm?  Is putting up your tree on the third of November a crime?  Is busting out your Bieber Christmas CD two months in advance going to hurt anyone?

In the wise words of Sheryl Crow, if it makes you happy…it can’t be that bad.

There’s a lot of things to worry about each and every day, a lot of bad news on our TV screens and newspaper pages, a lot of reasons to cry and feel sad.

So I say, if putting up your decorations and getting in the festive spirit brings you joy, and eases some of the stress that often comes with the holiday season, then just go for it

christmas

There will always be the Grinches and Scrooges of the world who say, “It’s too soon!!  You people are nuts!!  Calm the F down!!!”

I say if it makes your days a little merrier, and a little more bright…then it’s never too soon.

On Friday evening, I’m going to see the “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Cabaret production in our neighbouring town, and I’m hoping it puts me in the mood, because I’m planning to decorate on Saturday.  I’m pretty sure that will be the earliest I’ve ever decorated before, but hell…

Everybody’s doing it.

9 comments:

Stacie said...

In my defense, I only put the tree up and decorated last week because I had to go back to work this week and I wanted to get it done before then. If it helps, I still have fall wreaths and mailbox cover out, can't bring myself to change those until after Thanksgiving!

Sarah said...

Im actually listening xmas music right now on majic 100 ...have yourself a merry little christmas now...December 1st is NEXT Saturday and Ottawa and other Towns started having their xmas parades so I dont think it's early, it's about that time :)CHRISTMAS TIME. It just makes me smile.
I've been wanting to pull my boxes out of the crawl-space but after a dead mouse in one of the traps monday night im a teensy bit scared to go into the crawl space when home alone. There better not be any little criters in my xmas boxes little f**kers eeek.

VandyJ said...

We are waiting this year simply because if we got a real tree this weekend, it would have no needles left by Christmas. We plan on going next weekend. I do need to go dig out the countdown calendar we have so the boys can start it Dec 1.

Nicole said...

Mark has wanted to put our Christmas tree up since August. I was listening to Christmas music in July. Our tree is still down but will probably be up this weekend. We can't do outside lights because our dogs thing it's a good idea to eat them. But I have noticed lights going up around the neighborhood I live in quite a bit in the last 3 weeks probably. You're right, there is a lot to be worried about, why not bring some job to the world! Now our Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it does bother me that they're starting Black Friday sales tomorrow night, taking away from family time, but otherwise, I'm ok with all of it. Just let people be with their families on Thanksgiving is all I ask.

Mind Of Mine said...

I haven't put my Christmas tree up but I have already got the Christmas music on my Mp3 player.

Destiny's Child - 8 Days of Christmas anyone?

Jaime said...

I was always a December 1 kinda gal, but this year, it just seemed strange to still have the fall stuff out when Thanksgiving was so long ago. Plus our town's tree lighting was last Friday night and I usually turn my lights on outside the same night as the tree lighting. So, I cleaned up the fall decor and have started putting a few Christmas pieces out. The rest will this weekend! I am a sucker for Christmas, I love everything to do with it, including the music! Enjoy decorating, Jill!

Carly Ann said...

I ADORE Christmas, but I still wouldn't think about putting my Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. A lot of people make comments about how people "forget" about Thanksgiving, but I just don't think it's true. Just because you're enthusiastic about Christmas doesn't mean you aren't thankful for the things in your life. If anything, I think the CHristmas spirit makes me not only remember the important things in life, but also remember how much I have and motivate me to give a little more to others.

LeeLu Creations said...

I usually decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving. I pulled my decorations out last night, which is a major undertaking dragging that crap out of my storage building so it's gotta put in some face time for at least a month, lol.

Anonymous said...

I LOOOVVVVEEEEEE Christmas and it can never be too early for decorations or music! There's a town here called Frankenmuth that's Christmas ALL YEAR LONG and I would totally live there if I could! We also have a town called Christmas and I have seriously considered moving there. :) Christmas cheer to you!