Still November

A discussion on the radio this morning echoed a conversation my hero and I had shared in John Lewis yesterday.

Is it Christmas yet?

No!  It’s still November!

I found myself nodding in agreement with Janice Turner, whose Times article from last year sums it up pretty well and leaves me with one and a half feet in the Turner camp even if I just can’t quite drag that last foot completely from Kirstie Allsopp’s sparkly Christmas grotto.  Whilst I enjoy some aspects of Christmas, I just can’t bear how early it all seems to creep up on me and that FOMO effect propels us into it all regardless.  I fear that some would have Christmas all year round given the opportunity, but wouldn’t that take all the joy out of it completely?

Needless to say, I can’t quite resist some of the offers which reward early shoppers though, and when I spotted cute polar bear wrapping paper on offer, of course I bought it.  Olaf took good care of it until I found a home for it.

The arrival of a box of goodies in preparation for my December journal arrived yesterday and also demanded my attention.  Our small friends are coming over after school tomorrow to begin putting together their album and so I thought I’d better gather a few things together for them which meant getting out the box of Christmas bits and pieces.

So, even though we were pretty determined to avoid being swept up in it all until next weekend at the earliest, as you can tell, we’ve caved in.

I pulled out the basket of December journals ready for the girls to look through and of course, couldn’t resist revisiting a couple of them myself.  I need to set up my album for 2015 and before I do, I thought I’d see what works and what doesn’t.  One of the discussions in the craft forums has been about the front covers, because some make very elaborate creations indeed.  However, as you can tell by the broken and damaged front cover decorations of some of these, the best ones are the simplest.  I’m not going to be over zealous about creating anything special for that, then.

My first December journal was from 1989 and it was fun to look back through it. 

So cute!  My journals contain so many happy memories and are much loved.

Even those tinged with sadness contain reminders that life goes on and there is comfort to be found in family traditions.  Looking through these reminds me why I continue to make these journals every year.  We all love them!

Some years, my journals are more complicated with bits and pieces stuck in there and there’s no doubt, the early pages are usually far more elaborate than those closer to Christmas itself!

As the pressure builds there is usually a sense of “get it done”.  That’s fine with me.

I think all of them have a page which prompts us to utter “remember that year when….”  this one was when Waitrose “forgot” our turkey order!

There are recurring themes in each of them and I know that these will feature in my 2015 journal too.  How will I make them different this year?  I have no idea!  (Maybe I won’t?)

Whilst choosing how big to make my 2015, I’m thinking that I don’t need to worry about running out of space because I can always create fold-out pages.  Sometimes, too, those fold out pages allow me to tell a more personal story, especially if I hide it behind a flap.  Hmmm.

So, taking a quick look through 2014 and remembering some of the pros and cons of that particular size/format, I’ve decided how I’m going to tackle 2015.

So, like Andy Pandy and Teddy, it’s time for them all to return to their wicker basket until the next time they come out to play.

Because it’s still November!