Who doesn't love the Shortcake?

I think I may finally have a decent handle on the Christmas shopping. I spent about an hour going through all my catalogs last night and have a healthy pile of orders to place over the weekend. I still have a couple things I'd like to troll the mall to obtain, but all in all, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape, though I'm far from comfortable. Turning the countdown-to-Christmas calendar to 19 days kinda freaked me out this morning.
Speaking of calendars, last night I took part in one of my perverse joys of the upcoming new year ... filling in my new calendars with birthdays. I keep three calendars in my home: one in the office, one in my closet, and a final one hanging in the kitchen. Sydney's calendar isn't one that I prepare ahead of time, we fill that in as she progresses through the months. I'm quite proud of this year's calendar selections. I bought another Winnie the Pooh calendar for Sydney; a "Wonders of the World" calendar for the office; a photos of Boston one for the kitchen; and, this year's personal favorite, a Strawberry Shortcake masterpiece for my closet.