My hairstylist begins her Christmas shopping in September. I can't even begin to fathom what it would feel like to be that well-prepared. I always put off Christmas shopping until December, which coincidentally is the busiest point in the semester, and then when it's all over I have much Christmas shopping to be done and it's a week to Christmas.

We really do need to mail out Christmas cards as well. Many of the people we'll be sending cards to are up in arms over the whole "happy holidays" NO "merry Christmas" YES thing. Last year our card had a picture of a boy with his tongue stuck to an icy pole, with the words "Hathy Holidayth" written inside. This year I'm afraid my Baptist friends/family will disown me for such neglect of all I believe, displayed in that one statement (even when masked with a lisp). Oh, well. We'll just buy whatever card seems right. I saw a card I liked in Borders in late November. It had this really angry looking cat dressed in holiday attire. And really, is anything funnier than angry looking cats? I didn't think so.