Christmas is around the Corner

It's the end of October and two months left before year end. Have you been to the shops lately? Yes, I've seen it too! The Christmas trimmings are up and the shops are advertising Christmas gifts already. I suppose it's a good idea to start your gift shopping early. Some people start doing this during the year which means that you might actually get those items at much less because as we are all aware of the price increases as Christmas draws nearer.

Every year I promise myself that "I'll spend less this year", but every year I'm back where I was the year before... Spending more and not less! Gift buying has become something that people can't really afford and some people have agreed to buy gifts for the children and cancel the adult gifting. I enjoy watching the faces of the children when opening their gifts. Unfortunately for some children it isn't a matter of receiving a gift but what the gift is. We have unfortunately spoilt the idea of receiving gifts for many children - todays' children expect expensive gifts and gone are the days when they were happy receiving a doll or a car as they expect you to give them a mp3 player or a cellular phone. 

Over the next two months I will be discussing possible gift ideas and recipes for Christmas and summer - my favourite season! My family have celebrated with a Christmas Eve dinner for years now and I have come to appreciate this as it conveniently allows me to have Christmas lunch with my in-laws. Our dinner consists of an array of different dishes which we all contribute to. We may have different dishes during the course of the year however none compares to the Christmas eve spread!

The thing about Christmas is the fact that although there is a big hype leading up to the one  day, it is over in a flash - but if I look back and can remember sitting, eating and talking to my family - it's all worth it!