Calendars

You know, I have to say that I had a lot of fun with YOU NEVER NOVEMBER WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET month!  It certainly was a great period of experimentation, and it allowed me to try and get a little more creative without the rigid structure of theme days.  I really appreciated it.

But today happens to be the last day of November, and with that comes the real big kick-off towards Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and any other special holiday that you and your families may celebrate. 

Of course, you know what this means.  This will be the time of the year in which I kick off another exciting edition of THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR!

Yes, for exactly twenty-five days in a row from December 1 until December 25, we'll be taking a look at all kinds of holiday surprises from Christmas carols to Christmas movies, to Christmas treats, and even a couple of Christmas tales or two to share.  After all, part of the fun of the holidays is the family gatherings and reminiscing about fond holiday memories.  Believe me, I have a few tales to tell.

But for now, in preparation for the advent calendar, I thought that I would use this space to talk about...well...calendars!

I have to say, one of the things that I used to love about the holidays is that I would almost always receive a gift of a calendar for Christmas.  After all, it is a rather practical gift of sorts given that the new year begins exactly one week after Christmas Day.

Funny thing is, I don't remember when I received my very first calendar as a Christmas gift...however, I do remember getting an advent calendar every Christmas for the first fourteen Christmases of my life.  At least, I think it was fourteen.

Anyway, you know the advent calendars I mean, right?  The ones that had some sort of Christmas scene with doors stamped on them numbered from 1-24?  I used to love those things.  Mainly because you were guaranteed to have a piece of chocolate every day for twenty-four days!  You see, when December 1 rolled around, you opened the door marked #1, and ate the chocolate inside.  Then on December 2, you open #2 and so on and so forth until you reach Christmas Eve when door #24 held the biggest piece of chocolate.  Yeah, good times.

I can tell you that all but one of the advent calendars that I had for Christmas were of the chocolate variety.  The other one used stickers.  Ironically enough, I liked the sticker advent calendar the best!

And now I hear that they have such a thing as a Lego Advent Calendar?  I must have it!  It looks so awesome!!!

But then again, I did get a Lego calendar for Christmas last year.  I guess I don't need to have the advent calendar too.

Of course, now that I have the Lego calendar, I really don't need to get another calendar for Christmas ever again, but who knows?  I may end up getting a paper calendar yet.

After all, I do remember getting quite a few calendars from some family members and friends.

For instance, my brother-in-law once went down to the United States and brought me back a calendar from...ahem...Hooters (keeping in mind that I was probably in my late teens, early twenties at the time).  I will say that it was definitely a calendar that I hung up in my room with pride.  I think he even had a couple of the waitresses autograph some of the pages!  It was a great calendar.  Still wish I had it...

...ahem, where was I?  Oh, yes!  Calendars!

Actually, the holidays are a great time to purchase calendars for charity purposes.  I know the Heart & Stroke foundation creates a limited amount of calendars that they charge a rather steep price for that I received for at least two or three years.  But every penny reportedly goes towards research, and there is also the chance that you could win huge money if they draw the serial number of the calendar that you own. 

Mind you, I never won a thing...but it was still a nice idea.

And, I still have a calendar from 2007 that doubled as a fridge magnet that I received in a Christmas card from a dear friend named Rosemary who passed away just three months later.  It's a nice little token to remember her years of friendship, and even though she has been gone for almost eight years now, I still think about her once in a while.

I think calendars are awesome gifts to receive for the holidays...and I think that calendars are a great gift to give as well.  In fact, I am giving out calendars to at least three people on my own Christmas list.  But, I've said too much.

In the meantime, say goodbye to November.  Day #1 of THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR begins tomorrow with a holiday twist on a funny Monday.