Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

It’s an early autumn weekend, golden and glorious. Being the organized person I am, I’m not only thinking about battening down the garden hatches for this season but I’m also thinking about Christmas, which is three months from today. The sun, lazing in my yard, smiles in approval.

Why do Christmas and autumn go together in my world? Because I do as much of my shopping as possible in October so that the catalog companies can deliver my purchases in November. While I’m wrapping the gifts in December, my credit cards come calling with the final tallies. By the time the Big Day arrives, I’ve got everything wrapped and paid for. January is welcomed like a long, lost friend rather than a harbinger of bad news.

It wasn’t always like this. For many years, I ran to the mall the week before Christmas with my plastic card in hand. Waving it here and there, I bought what I needed and ran back home to wrap and ribbon and tag just in time to have it unwrapped by my eager family. Then January, with its financial reckoning, came skulking.

I don’t mean to rush the season, like some retail merchants who already have their displays up. Rather, I mean to make it easier on my budget by dividing the shopping tasks into a few months rather than just one week.

There’s also an additional benefit. Instead of worrying about holiday bills after the first of the year, I am free to think about daffodils and tulips three months early. And perhaps that is why the sun smiles today.