Christmas is Coming!

I must admit I've had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I credit this to three main reasons:
1. Thanksgiving doesn't exist as a holiday in New Zealand. Of course this makes logical sense given it's a celebratory dinner between the Pilgrims and Indians, but it also marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. Without it I'm nearly catapulted into the end of year Holiday season without realizing.
2. Lack of Christmas displays. In America we're inundated with months of extravagant holiday store displays (squashing every fall holiday into memory oblivion) that allow you to prepare yourself for the overspending event of the year. Here, in New Zealand, they've just now started ramping up for the big day over the last week. A mere two weeks before the event.
3. It's getting hot down here. As the weather warms up and the days get longer my thoughts turn toward barbecues, beaches, and firecrackers on the 4th of July. Not cold weather, fireplaces, carollers, and Christmas. It's hard for me to believe I'll be spending the day in shorts and jandals instead of flannels and slippers. It's just not the same.

Despite a few mental hindrances I've done my best to get into the season by putting up a small 4 foot tree (which I managed to wrap with 700 fairy lights), purchasing my annual Christmas cards (which will sadly, although typical of me, be extremely late in arrival), and setting my iPod on a perma-Christmas tunes shuffle. None of it has really revved up my holiday spirit, until this last Sunday as I was driving home from Hamilton. Due to a late start, I drove through the neighboring towns to Hawera around 10pm, and much to my delight there were house upon house decorated to the hilt with extravagant Christmas light displays, inflatable Santas, and cardboard reindeer. At that moment I knew I was ready for Christmas because nothing says Christmas like gaudy, festive yard displays.