Thinking Out Loud Thursday - October 21, 2015

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  Vanessa at X-tremely V and I are so happy you stopped by.  Hope you link up below and share with us what you're thinking out loud about today.

Today I have a lot going on in my head, so I'm going to spill it right here in blog land.

Don't freak out when I say this, but did you realize that we only have nine weeks until Christmas!?!  I'm so hopeful that this will be the year I'm not wrapping gifts until 2:00 am Christmas Eve, fighting all the other crazies at the grocery store five minutes before they close and just grabbing a gift card at my 24-hour Walgreen's because I have no clue what to get someone.



Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm not one that's putting up my Christmas decorations as the trick-or-treaters are ringing the door bell.  I wait until after Thanksgiving is over before busting out any trees.  But there are a few things I like to have covered before we pack away the turkey and bring out Santa.  One of them is my shopping list.  One of the things I hate the most is checking the delivery schedule every minute day to see exactly where my order is on the route to my house.  I think sometimes Eric would rather just get in the car and meet the UPS driver in the middle of Kansas than have me ranting and raving about why a package shipped from California to my door has to take an entire 24 hours.

My helpful hint to you (and to myself) is to sit down right now and think about what you need to order that will take some time being delivered.  Taking the time to do it right now can save you so much stress in December when you already have more than enough to do.  Take this LIBRARY EMBOSSER.  The lead time on this gem is about 20 days.  I've been wanting to buy it for a couple people on my list for years, but have never gotten it ordered in time.  Not this year baby!  They are ordered and on their way to my house.  (Hopefully I won't loose them before wrapping time gets here!)

Let's face it -- anything personalized should be ordered early.  Early is coming pretty quick --  like in the next couple weeks.

Planning on travelling on an airplane over Christmas?  Get those tickets bought!   A 2013 study showed the cheapest time to purchase tickets was 54 days before take off.  That's now guys!  Plus if you don't plan ahead you are running a real risk of the flights you need being completely sold out.  Need a heads up on when a sale starts?  Sign up for CheapAir FareTracker alerts.  It would be a real drag to pay hundreds more than you needed to on airline tickets.  Several of the sites I visited mentioned that Tuesday mornings are the best time to check fares.  

Now is also a great time to check out your address book.  Someone move this year?  Met some new friends you want on your Christmas card list?  Now is a great time to get those addresses finalized.  I hate it when I sit down to write out my cards and I'm missing an address.  It's so hard for me to get back to sending it once I've moved on to something else.  Get that address now before the rush of the holiday season sucks you up!  I've taken a sabbatical from sending Christmas cards the last few years.  I'm thinking this year might be the year to start again.  One of my favorite things is going to the mailbox and seeing cards inside.  I need to return the favor.  I usually make my own -- better get on that now too!!

Okay, enough of this thinking about Christmas!  Switching back to Halloween costumes and what side dishes I'm having on Thanksgiving.  Speaking of Halloween, I'm going to show off some of my decorations soon.  Love the way the mantle turned out this year!

What are you thinking out loud about today?  We would love for you to link up and let us know!

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at

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