MAYBE JUST A TOUCH

I just love Christmas. Seriously. And the time leading up to it, with all that thinking and dreaming and planning and decorating and cooking and singing and smelling? Well, that's the best part of all! I know there are lots of other people who don't feel as I do, so I do my best not to shove it down their throats too early, but this year? This year is a problem. You see, we actually leave for Sudan before Christmas, so we've arranged for Santa to come early, on the 12th. I now have less than a week until my Thanksgiving guests begin to arrive. The week after that we meet up with our BFFs to spend a couple of nights on the San Antonio Riverwalk, enjoying all the lights and decorations, and then? That's it. Santa will be here! And I haven't even started listening to carols or wrapping or baking or  anything!  Last week I finally realized that, if I didn't begin soon, I would never have time to get into the proper spirit of things, and Christmas might just slip through the cracks altogether. Well, I couldn't let that happen, now could I? So I began to pull out a little bit here...

and a little bit there.

No Santas or elves or anything that would make my Thanksgiving guests go "AACCKK!!!" when they walk through the door...

just a few festive winter touches.

OOPS!

How did that guy slip in?