Ready or not...

Recognize these funny looking guys? Yep, that's right-- they're nutcrackers... Christmas nutcrackers... and they're gracing the front of this year's "holiday" stamps. How do I know this, you ask? Well, let me tell you. This afternoon, while racing up and down the grocery store aisles, I remembered stamps-- I needed to buy a book of stamps. So once I reached the head of the check-out line, I asked the clerk if I could purchase some there. To my delight, she had some on hand. Woohoo! No need to get out of line for a trip over to customer service; no second stop at the post office-- nope, the grocery store met my need. But here's the crazy part: the gal gave me Christmas stamps, for goodness sake! Flags, yes; sunflowers, sure, but Christmas stamps? I about fell over.

Now that I think back, however, I'm not really sure why I was so shocked. I mean, it makes perfect sense-- the aisles at Target are already lined with wrapping paper and gift tags and ornaments and all sorts of lovely accessories. The trees are already decorated at my favorite garden center and the beautiful ribbons have been on sale at Costco for ages now. So why the big surprise about stamps at the grocery store?? I don't know. I guess I'm just struggling with the passage of time... just yesterday the leaves were starting to turn color (and now almost all of them are strewn across my front lawn). And the day before that the boys were surfing the ocean waves and collecting seashells on their morning walks. And the day before that, I was waddling around the block, desperate for my tiny baby girl to make her grand entrance...

So where did the time go? And why can't I keep up with it? And now, to think that Christmas is only 49 days away... 49! That's crazy!! That's less than 2 months and I haven't even begun to collect my thoughts regarding this wonderful time of year. Books to read, projects to finish, lists to make (did you catch that, ma?? Lists!), recipes to collect, gifts to purchase, crafts to enjoy, fun places to visit... oh, there's so much to do! How in the world did Christmas creep up on me like this?!

The answer-- I'll never know. But I do know this... Christmas is coming, ready or not, and my incredible heel-dragging talent ain't gonna change that fact. My boys have been spewing forth gift ideas for weeks now (and for some reason, their "absolute must-haves" are different every day, but that's a whole other story)... perhaps I'd better start paying attention. My littlest one is tearing around the house like there's no stopping her; in fact, I just know she's going to start walking any day now. And the young gray ghost-- our wild, wild whipper-snapper-- is keeping me on my toes every second of the day as nothing is safe from his very busy jaws. So, clearly my home-life is not going to slow down at all; there will be no regrouping or refocusing at a leisurely pace any time soon. No, Christmas is upon us and I'd best get my tail in gear. Otherwise, I'll miss it...