One Month To Go...

I have two official milestones when it comes to celebrating Christmas:

1. 25th November - when I'm allowed to enjoy one or two things Christmassy without feeling too bad about it.
2. 1st December - when I'm allowed to enjoy all Christmassy things in a public fashion without feeling subjected to ridicule.

My unofficial milestone is probably the beginning of December when Christmas 24 starts on the telly (gotta love those cheesy Christmas flicks), when I secretly slip in a few festive tunes into my ipod's repertoire and when I contemplate wrapping all the presents that I pretend I've yet to buy.

Unfortunately, this unofficial milestone actually makes it quite difficult to get excited for Christmas in the correct way. I feel the giddy, naughty excitement from the beginning of November. It's illicit, secret and fun!

But I have a sensible side that tells me I'm not allowed to reveal my secret joy lest I get lambasted much like the Christmas music does when it's played in September in shopping centres across the land!

So I tamp it down and try to act normal. But, by the time it is socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas - wear the earrings, jumpers, headbands, brooches, rings, necklaces, tinsel etc - I feel like I've lost that loving feeling. The excitement never is the same.

Not this year - I'm determined to feel the excitement throughout December.

So, I've already changed my computer screen to my lovely Christmas scene. I've even decorated it with some gorgeous USB lights which block the screen in multiple ways but I forgive them because they're so cheery!

The next book I'm reading will be the Harlequin Blaze Christmas anthology - nothing quite as good as hot stories on chilly nights. And to top it off, yesterday we went to the live feed of Andre Rieu's Christmas Concert in our local cinema.

We sat in the back row, decked out in all our Christmas finery and had a blast. There's nothing quite like music to get you into the Christmas spirit!

Not long to go now...