Christmas in 5 days?!?

It seems like for the past 8 or 10 years, Christmas has this amazing ability to sneak up on me. Every year, I am so surprised that Christmas is right around the corner. I used to get somewhat miffed at Walmart and all the other stores that put up their holiday merchandise so early, but now I have a different opinion. Now I feel like Christmas comes and goes so quickly, that maybe it is a good thing to put up holiday decorations a bit early. At least that way, you sort of draw out the Christmas spirit. From now on, I think I am going to start my holiday decorating on December 1. That way, we enjoy the other holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, but then we stretch out Christmas. Maybe that way, I will have more time to enjoy it. For anyone who is following my mother's health, we are still hanging in there. It has now been 9 months since she was diagnosed and she has outlived the doctors' predictions twice. She is still going through chemo and that has taken such a toll on her body. Cancer treatment is a crazy thing. We poison the body to eventually cure it of the disease. Bizarre. I pray that one day we can develop a better, and more effective, form of treatment. Mom is struggling with the brain cancer - that seems to be the one that we have to worry about. The effects of the cancer are noticeable in her personality, in her thought processes and even in her speech. The effects of the chemo are obvious too, but more physical. I didn't know if she would even be here for the holidays, so I am thankful that she is with us for this Christmas. My plan is to have a camera handy and really make the most of it this year. She is one of my best friends and I want to have visual memories of this Christmas.