The Christmas Clock is Ticking

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My suggestion (which I don't see being adopted anytime soon) is that Americans should celebrate Thanksgiving in the middle of October, like our dear Canadian neighbors. The fourth Thursday in November is pretty arbitrary, after all, as President Lincoln originally designated a holiday of thanksgiving (hoping to calm the strife of the Civil War) on the last Thursday of November.  But there was a big stink in 1939 when there were five Thursdays in November, and in 1941 Congress decreed that Thanksgiving would fall on the fourth Thursday of the month. This was condemned as a blatant power grab by retailers to extend the Christmas shopping season (gosh, imagine that!) but there Thanksgiving has stayed. 

 

But when Thanksgiving falls late, as it did this year, it leaves us with a mere four weeks to recover from one holiday and get everything organized for the next, and I am one of those folks who is never ready! Here I am a week into the month and I have bought a total of four gifts: a bottle of the amazing garlic-removing hand scrub for my daughter, and two books and a fountain pen for my granddaughter. I don't even have a list!

Nor have I bought a tree, and my one little gesture towards decorating has been to change the sofa cushions to the Christmas version. I have a good friend, an interior designer, who has all her shopping done and wrapped at least two weeks before Thanksgiving! I gaze at her and marvel!

How are you doing, my darling Reds? Is your shopping finished or barely started? Are you do-ahead-ers, or last-minute-ers? Do you welcome the Christmas season with cries of joy, or with moans of "Already? Please can I have another week or two?"

RHYS BOWEN:  I’m almost done. Everything ordered online which means packages arriving in a steady stream. Most of my cards are mailed. On Sunday my neighbors who are dear friends come to decorate the tree. Since they are Jewish this is a lovely moment for all of us. Then it’s wrapping presents before I juggle the logistics of where to put 7 people in which bedroom and how much food will 15 people eat. 

 

JENN McKINLAY: I hosted Thanksgiving and then had three days to write 12K words to finish a book due on the first. Then I caught the crud and have mostly recovered. I have a 5K to run this Sunday and then I might start to think about decorating for Xmas. Thankfully, I’m not hosting — just bringing dessert— none of my people are gift oriented so it’s mostly cash, gift cards, a sweater, a book or two and boom we’re done! 

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Hanukah will be early this year, too, and I’ve just bought chocolate coins for the kiddoes and a fresh bunch of candles. 

But the best thing is that my kids and grands will be here for a week, celebrating Christmas. so I’m heading out soon for a mini tree and the Xmas presents from the kids are ordered. Otherwise I try to keep gifts for grownups limited to homemade candy (chocolate turtles and chocolate-coverred orange rind) and money. And of course lots of good food (potato latkes and brisket for Hanukah-after-Hanukah). 

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ha ha ha ha ha.  I have holiday cards. In their boxes. I have a mailing list. Will the two ever meet? We shall see.

All of the Christmas decorations are up all over our neighborhood, so we will bask in the reflected light of our more organized neighbors.

As for gifts. Ha ha ha, see above. 

Every year I say – – let’s get a tree! And Jonathan says we’re Jewish. And I don’t see how that matters. 

And we’re not sure if anyone is coming, so hey, if they can’t decide, I don’t need to decide either. Right? It’ll all be fine. No matter what. 

 

LUCY BURDETTE: We are pretty much done because we had to be. We head to California next week to see the grands and needed to send things ahead so we can open while we’re there. (Otherwise our gifts get lost in the mayhem of the actual day…) We don’t have a live tree anymore as by the time they arrive in Key West, they are already losing needles. So we pulled out our little fake tree last night, put lights on the balcony, and decorated a small extra Norfolk pine. The pillows are in varied states of disarray as Lottie tore into them over the years–they are all out anyway except for my favorite Santa, which she still believes is hers! (PS cards are done too because we had a good photo to use! Plus Shutterfly makes it pretty darn easy.)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The tree arrived yesterday, courtesy of my friend Samantha, who picked it up from the Gray Fire Department sale. Only live trees in Maine - at least for now.

I've shopped for several kids in actual stores, and will probably order the majority of the rest of the gifts online. Cards? Ahahahaha! I have the same box I bought last year, untouched. Someday, I'll have my act together enough to send them out on time, but this is not that year.

The next step for me is house cleaning, which fell WAY off while I've been traveling for the new book. I can't stand decorating on top of dust or mess, so everything needs to have at least a swipe with the lemon oil and a few passes of the vacuum. 

The holiday is a bit in flux this year, since my son just got a new job and the Mrss. haven't decided how much of it will be at my house and how much at home with the new baby. Which is fine; since the pandemic years, I've been more and more relaxed about the holidays. One way or another, it will all be fun! 

DEBS: How about it, dear readers? Is Christmas sneaking up on you? 

I hope you are all so organized that you will spend the next couple of weeks sitting in front of the fire, sipping hot chocolate and reading good books!