The holidays are over?!?!?

I can' t believe that the holidays are already over and gone! And perhaps we're fringing on the days when it's inappropriate to even say, "Happy New Year!" I briefly remember Thanksgiving, and I'm fairly certain that I took some photos at Christmas time....

What happened?!?!?

I blinked and the neighbors were no longer bringing out new holiday decorations, but they've already put their decorations away until next year! I can still see through the trees that one neighbor is still unashamedly plugging in some small and tasteful beautiful white-lit trees in her yard...and she is an extravagant florist with magnificent taste, yet I only wish that I could be so brazen! With multiple December birthdays in our family, we naturally come by it...we love Christmas time!

Again, where did the holidays go?!?!?

It seems like it was yesterday that my girls and I were strolling through a shopping area, and I was getting looks from strangers with gleems in their eyes as they heard us pass them by while the children were singing (ever so loudly) Christmas songs. Well, yesterday, we were getting glares! I would just sweetly tell the strangers, "I'm sorry, these poor children don't know that Christmas is over, and I just don't have the heart to tell them! You try!"

It's over?!?! Hasn't anyone ever heard of "After Christmas Sales"?

Did you see any? I certainly didn't! One of my most memorable childhood experiences is shopping with my mom, sister, aunts, or anyone who had the guts to join my mom and I as we tackled our way through the craziness of Dillard's After-Christmas sales! If I'm not mistaken, Scrooge forced all CFO's of every company to mark holiday prices...back in October! I KNOW that I saw 50% sales of all "holiday" merchandise...before Thanksgiving, perhaps even before Halloween!

So now it's just me and the tired 'ole sales-people (not even pretending to be jolly anymore!) selling me items at 90% off! And deep in my heart, I know that I'm probably buying junk that I'll never use...then I rationalize it and tell myself that I'm getting such a great deal that I can either just let the children play with it, draw on it, paint/glitter it, and pass it off to someone that really loves them and will be proud of it, then I second-guess that and decide that I know "deep down in my heart" that I won't allow the children to bring out the colors, paint, or glitter next holiday season, so I'll just keep it until I come up with a really ingenious way to use it...it was such a steal of a price!

I haven't lost my holiday spirit yet, so I know that I'll have it even earlier next year....to truly bask in the glow of the lights of Christmas! In my perfect world (in my head) I'll not have to ask, "What happened?"