Did anyone besides me happen to notice that Christmas decorations and related items were being displayed in stores before Halloween had even arrived?

One store I was in had an aisle of fake cobweb and plastic RIP gravestones and the next aisle was Christmas candles and fake evergreen garland. There was one end cap of Thanksgiving napkins and paper plates. Call me strange, but I think there was something ghoulish about all of that.

It was kind of like Count Dracula and the ghost of Christmas Future were saying we should all be thankful that we can start our Christmas shopping before the frost is on the pumpkin and the turkey’s in the oven. Talk about your mixed metaphors!

I guess I can’t blame the stores all that much. The holiday season is the time of their biggest revenue and the earlier they push it the more money they make. They are not alone.

I have been receiving Christmas issue catalogs for months and months. At last count I have received over 150 catalogs selling everything from Christmas sweatshirts to gun clips. I think there’s probably another mixed metaphor in that, too.

I’m sure the person who delivers my mail must hate this time of the year. I can’t believe that I’m the only one receiving four or five catalogs a day. And add to that the packages of items that we order from the stupid catalogs.

There was a time when the only catalog that I received was the annual edition of the Sears Wish Book. This was a handy tool for me to find out what toys my kids really wished for.

I would have them go through the Wish Book and circle and initial the items they were hoping to find under the Christmas tree. This was a favorite part of the holiday season for them and no matter where I did my shopping I had a pretty good idea of what they really wanted.

There was a down side to that however. When they reached their teens they just handed the Wish Book to me and said “Everything that isn’t for old people or babies.” They always seemed a little disappointed when that wish was not fulfilled.

I still hand out catalogs to my kids, only now I include their spouses and grandchildren. The adults are pretty selective and try to keep my budget in mind. For my grandsons there is no such consideration. They circle just about every toy that is age appropriate and a few that are not.

As they have gotten older they have included all things electronic and video games galore. Half of the things they want I don’t even understand what they are. I know I’m an electronic idiot, but gosh darn, just how many game systems and iPod-type things are there? If I were to fulfill the grandkids’ circled wish lists I would have to mortgage the house and sell the car.

They do seem to forgive me when only a small fraction of their wishes show up under my Christmas tree, but I think they still cling to the hope that the Christmas will come along when I get them everything they circled.

Fat chance of that!

This year, the annual catalog circling fest has become a bit of a problem. Family members have been browsing and circling to beat the band since September, but due to the sheer volume of catalogs I can’t find most of what’s been circled.

I’m sure I’ll figure it out sooner or later. My daughter cooked Thanksgiving dinner this year, which is something that I usually do, so that gave me time to go through some of the catalogs. I found some of the circled items and put them on my shopping list, but the way I see it, it will be sometime after Christmas before I get to go through over 150 gosh darn catalogs. Oh wait, a whole bunch of new catalogs came in today. I better pass these out so I’ll have some idea of what everyone wants.