Yes, it's Early, but We Need A Little Christmas

It's been one helluva year. I don't like to whine if I can help it, especially in "print", so I haven't gone into detail here. Suffice it to say that I have had better years. Many times. And better months than last month, which made me particularly sad, as October is normally my favorite month of the year.

With that in mind, it's Christmas (and Thanksgiving), full ahead, as far as I'm concerned. I went Christmas shopping today. Normally I pick things up here and there all year long, and am always looking, but I don't do official Christmas Shopping until mid-November, usually. By that I mean dedicating an entire outing to just shopping for Christmas gifts.

Today I did, and it was successful; I found things for four people, and materials to make gifts for two more. And at the thrift I stopped into, I found a silk blouse for myself, and some very Shetland-looking acrylic yarn (not normally something to inspire a Happy Dance, but MiL is very allergic to wool, and this stuff is quite pretty). I even found a few boxes of Christmas cards, though not as many as we'll need.

Plans for the baking have commenced. There will definitely be fruitcake, and possibly one will become Christmas Cake. We enjoyed the one I made last year so much that I promised to make another. I don't know if I'll be trying something new this year; I suspect just getting the house in order and possibly coping with another cat will be a lot to handle, so there will be fewer cookies and not many experiments.

I've knitted one gift, and have four more on the needles. Two more are in the planning stages, but they're both quick knits.

Do you think I'm completely mad, or have you done something similar this year?