It's almost time to prepare to start getting excited about the holidays and HOORAY for stream-of-consciousness blurtages and hyphenated compound-words

Mania or high-on-life?  I just got mad excited and here's the process:

I was on RottenTomatoes.com looking at the review for "Stranger Than Fiction " (one of my all-time favs) which led me to peek at Will Ferrell's overall filmography, which led me to "Elf ," which reminded me of what a wonderful movie it is for Christmas cheer, completely-unabashed-affection and good will towards men.  

THEN I started getting excited because today felt like autumn and tonight will be the coldest one of the season, which in turn led me to realize that it almost really is autumn.  

THEN I started getting excited for Halloween, which breaks the trail for Thanksgiving - both of which flank the bursting, vibrant hues of Pennsylvania in the fall (not to mention the bearable temperatures so I can finally venture outside and enjoy it).  Merely imagining the entire upcoming season broadsided me on this idle Wednesday evening (too idle - I'm supposed to be at the gym) with sheer thrill - boldly racing up and down my spine.  Alive with blazing colors, the smells of woodsmoke and new books, and the way in which all organic matter stirs and thrives in this precious-fleeting space of time between the unforgiving-ly stifling heat and the bitterly glacial cold that will drive even the most arrogant-obstinate scrub oak into dormancy...post-summer-pre-winter east of the Mississippi makes my annual promise to myself enjoyable: wait until after Thanksgiving to get really, un-damper-ably, arguably-overly-excited about Christmas and the whole holiday season.

I plan on having some fantastic, Pennsylvania-specific autumn adventures - including apple-picking, hayrides, pumpkin patches, and possibly corn mazes.  I realize some of the aforementioned activities (ok, all) are pretty generic, but from what I hear, those Pennsylvania Dutch really do it up like no one else can.  Now...let's see if my plastering this all over teh intartoobs actually gets my butt in gear to make wonderful fall activities happen!

Oh and for the record, I believe in Santa Claus.  Which is probably why I'm such a nut for the holidays.  So...I invite you to enjoy it with me or please feel free to build a bridge and get over it.

Whew.  Thanks for allowing me that indulgence <3

Sherri: OUT!