I would love to say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas outside, but as I walked out of the Little America Hotel after giving a speech at a big Women in Business Conference today the temperature was in the mid 70s and that made it look like anything but Christmas here in Utah! It was literally like a beautiful summer day today… and it’s the week before Thanksgiving! It’s crazy!!

But hey, even if the weather isn’t even warm enough to put on a long sleeve shirt yet, let alone a sweater or jacket, that’s okay because we can still make it look a lot like Christmas inside! And that is exactly what I have been doing the last few weeks. I have been putting up my Christmas tree and hanging my stockings on the fireplace and getting all the Christmas lights strewn. And before you ba-humbug-ers go and complain about people who put their Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving is done I say this – Do you have any idea how long it takes to decorate a 15 foot tree? And how much work it is to wrap a massive front staircase in garland and lights?  Not to mention how long it takes to put up all the other little decorations.  I figured that if I am going to spend all that time decorating for days on end that I am going to dang well enjoy it for at least two full months from now on!!! That’s right – I think everyone should put all their Christmas decorations up at the start of November each year so they can enjoy them for all of November and December. It’s simply smart to get your money’s worth and your time’s worth by allowing yourself two full months to enjoy all the beautiful decorations before they have to come back down again. So there ba-humbug-ers…it’s a smart business decision!

Plus when all the Christmas decorations go up the entire house is filled with that Christmas Spirit feeling that makes you feel more gratitude and thanksgiving for everything you have, which is exactly how you want to feel for Thanksgiving Day!! Right?!  See it just works out perfectly!!!

So even if we can’t start playing the carol “Baby it’s cold outside” just yet, we can still choose to surround ourselves with the Christmas Spirit and Thanksgiving inside. So bust out those decorations and get those stockings hung by the chimney with care because the Holidays are here and its time we start to celebrate.

Have a tremendous day!

~Amy Rees Anderson