93.3 started it; the snow sealed the deal

It's official: Christmas is coming!

The bug bit me early this year. Driving home from church two weeks ago with Noah sleeping soundly in the backseat, I was feeling blah as I watched the gray landscape whiz by me in a blur of clouds and dreary.

From somewhere in the back corner of my mind came the thought, "Hey, doesn't some radio station play Christmas music starting on the first of November?" A scan of the dial confirmed my hunch: 93.3 FM is on the Christmas bandwagon!

It only took a few minutes before my mood was lifted. The bounce of the music was infectious. First it was "...beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and then my bells started to "jingle all the way." Before I knew it I was going full throttle on a "Sleigh ride," right on down to the horse whinny.

Every day since then, I've sought out my ultra-soothing, cold-weather-appropriate Windham Hill Christmas collection in my work computer's iTunes library. Just a few notes of that harp and strings makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

As if that weren't enough, when I woke up on Monday, I looked out the living room window and saw a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground. Though not the first snowflakes of the season, it's the first truly measurable amount. And despite my general distaste for snow, I admit that it was beautiful.

Tuesday morning brought an extra inch to that fluffy white blanket, and I had to capture the moment the sun peeked over our treeline. I swear you could almost hear Santa in the distance saying, "ho ho ho!"

Ah, I can see—and feel—myself getting carried away. Usually I'm a protester of the Halloween-to-Christmas tradition retail has thrust upon us. I happen to have a real love of Thanksgiving and reject the notion that Christmas must be in our minds before the turkey's even in the oven.

I don't know what it is about this year that has me seeing red and green. Maybe I need a little magic in my life right now. Between family, Santa & his reindeer gang, and the holiness of Jesus and his Silent Night, I'm ready for THE Season. I just can't help myself... Happy Holidays, everyone!