What's Too Early?

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Someone in a group of women I was with asked the question the other day and I laughed. Christmas shopping in SEPTEMBER?! Don't be silly! But then a few days ago, I stumbled across something I thought would make the perfect gift for someone, so I bought it. I guess I've started my Christmas shopping.

Have you had your flu shot yet? September seemed a little early for that too, but I got mine today. They offer them at my office each year and this was the scheduled day--about a month earlier than normal. But then one year Hubby and I were on vacation in late September, traveling around Oregon, and I came down with the flu. I was so sick that once my vacation was over, I was STILL off work another week. So I guess September's not too early after all.

Have you decorated your home for Halloween? Or for fall? Well, you KNOW I have. I was looking around the house the other day, admiring the decorations but thinking about the fact that it was somewhere in the 90 to 100 degree range outside with the air conditioning running indoors and I wondered: Did I decorate too early? Well, maybe, but I also know that the weekend I decorated was the only chunk of time I had until sometime well into October. AND it's supposed to cool down by the weekend. So maybe it wasn't too early after all.

As quilters, we HAVE to think ahead. We can't decide to make a Christmas quilt the first weekend in December and hope to USE the quilt the same year. And quilts are one of the best ways I know to decorate for a season or a holiday. So is it too early to work on a Christmas quilt in July? No, probably not. In fact, many of us would finish that quilt top by August and set it aside for quilting the NEXT July--if we even got THAT far. Quilting is a slow process, so it's a good thing most of us are patient.

But sometimes I think we get so caught up in ANTICIPATING the seasons that we don't really enjoy them when they arrive. Besides Christmas, fall is my favorite time of the year, so I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy it. This year, I've scheduled a week's vacation from work right after Thanksgiving--that's when I'll start to really think about Christmas and begin my decorating and planning. In the meantime, from now until Thanksgiving, other than a couple class projects, I'm just going to enjoy fall and try to NOT think too far ahead. October's here, so that means it's fall in my book. Happy fall!