It really isn't the most wonderful time of the year just yet

Perhaps I am pointing out the obvious here, but, it is the 18th of November. The EIGHTEENTH of NOVEMBER. It is not, as a point of fact, the the eighteenth of December. It's not. I checked. Trust me on this.

The reason I had to check was because the radio stations started playing Christmas music yesterday. On the 17th of November. THE SEVENTEENTH OF NOVEMBER. And one station in town has vowed to continue playing nothing but Christmas music from now until December 26. No, I am not making this up. Not even a little.

This bothers me on two levels. One, as mentioned previously, it is only the 18th of November. And TWO, they STOP playing Christmas music on 26th. I am personally of the opinion that the "Christmas Season" does not end until the 6th of January, or the Feast of the Epiphany (it's the old world ritualistic Anglican in me.) (Go here if you have no idea what I'm talking about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feast))

Okay, so, anyway, my point being, that I am having the Christmas season thrust upon me when I am NOT READY FOR IT, and having the Christmas season abrubtly ended, just when it should be reaching it's peak.

Furthermore, in this part of the country, this weekend is practically a holiday in and of itself, known simply as THE GAME.

THE GAME is a BIG DEAL. THE GAME is the Ohio State v. Univ. of Michigan football game, and believe me when I tell you that one (even one who is not a football fan) cannot escape the festivities associated with THE GAME. (For example, yesterday morning, in divorce court, the judge had a blinking red and gray light up buckeye* pin attached to her robes, and her clerk was decked out in a blue suit with bright yellow accessories, that included a hair clip in the shape of an "M.") My point is, the festival of THE GAME poured over even into the somber chamber of the court of broken dreams (aka divorce court.) In my office, where two of the attorneys are undergraduate alumni of OSU, everyone was decked out in red and gray. (I was actually depressed, yesterday morning, to find I was too fat to comfortably wear a red suit that I had forgotten about but recently rediscovered in the back of my closet - it is, a pre-Gabriel suit, so, it's not like I should be surprised that I could not fit my post-Gabriel waist into a 8 year old suit, but, it meant I had to wear a gray suit with red accessories - not really as stunning a red suit with gray accessories...I digress.)

The point is, there are festivities to enjoy in November, that are UNIQUE to November: THE GAME, followed by THANKSGIVING. I love Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving - the turkey, the dressing, the corn pudding, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, the green bean casserole (ah...green bean casserole, heaven in a dish...), the pecan pie, the family, the silly traditions that just involve being with people we both love and want to strangle...I love this holiday. And I hate, truly hate, that it seems like the last few years it has just gotten brushed under the rug in the rush to make Christmas come sooner (and the subsequent rush to put Christmas away on December 26.)

So, as I was driving this evening to pick up my Kung Pao Chicken and Pork Lo Mein from the Yum Yum Palace (Husband is actually sick, so, we have forgone the festivities of THE GAME this year), I was serenaded with "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - and I argued with THE RADIO.

Please, please, retailers and marketers, give me ONE MORE WEEK. Give me ONE MORE WEEK to enjoy this uniquely American festival of Thanksgiving, beforing bombarding me with White Christmas.

That is all,

LM

*if you are wondering what a buckeye is, it is a the nut of the buckeye tree. It looks, um...like the eye from a deer's head, hence, "buckeye". For most Ohioians, however, a "buckeye" is a confection made of peanut butter rolled with powdered sugar into a large-marble sized ball, and then dipped into melted chocolate and allowed to dry. Hence, you have a ball of peanut butter and powdered sugar, peeking out from a chocolate covering. Very tasty.