Oh We Need a Little Christmas

i'm a former retail queen, quelle surprise! that being said it should be no surprise that the day after Thanksgiving (aka: Black Friday) starts the Christmas season, in my mind. for many years, starting the week before Thanksgiving, i would make ready (read: dust off) my mammoth Christmas CD collection in preparation for Black Friday, when all we would play in the store is Christmas music. Two years later, i'm still in the same mindset, though now i have a significantly better device to cart around my holiday-mania: Baby Blue, my new mp3 player. it's alot easier than carrying all those CDs back and forth to work.

two weeks ago, i dug out all my CD's (along with a couple of new ones i bought a few days before) and ripped them all to our new computer, and then from the computer to Baby Blue (so that next year i can just upload the CD's straight from the music library). i've been itching to start listening to the new CDs i got (Bette Midler's Cool Yule, Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong, and Elton John's Christmas Party), but held off since (in my mind) the Christmas Season had yet to begin. i bided (yes, it's a word. don't believe me? click here) my time by sifting through the tracks i know i like on the CD's and making my 385 song, Ultimate Christmas Playlist: the Christmas Conga (the title is taken directly from Cyndi Lauper's mind-numbingly jolly tune of the same name, found on her must have CD, Merry Christmas and Have a Nice Life).

So, after dropping Stephen off at the bus stop, this past Friday, i cranked up my Christmas Conga Playlist and have been listening to it non-stop since then. in fact, i got so caught up in Mariah (All I Want for Christmas Is You) and Bette (Mele Malikimaka) and Linda Eder (O Holy Night) and Kristine W (Mary, Did You Know?) that after making the house worthy of a visit from my soon-to-be-in-laws, i decorated it for Christmas. Yup, it's November, and our house is officially a winter wonderland of red, gold and green. there are stuffed snowmen, snowflake shaped window clings and candles...lots and lots of candles...emitting scents of bayberry, mistletoe and other Christmas scents. by far and above, though, my favorite piece of Christmas decoration is the 4' high tin Christmas tree Jenn and Brian gave us last year. it's an advent calender, you see (something i have a distinct fondness for), and starting December 1st you place a beautiful hand made ornament (each with a little magnet on the back) on the tree! by December 25th you have a fully decorated tin tree!
in case you couldn't tell: i'm so excited, i can hardly stand it!i need another Advent calender to count down to December 1st!

stay tuned for my lists of the top Must Have Christmas songs and CD's!

"I wish you joy that never ends/Happy times with all your friends/Come on and hold my hips a little longer/As we do the Christmas Conga,/Bonga, bonga, bonga, bonga/Do the Christmas Conga"~ Christmas Conga (Cyndi Lauper)