Christmas, Hawaiian-Style

I'm having trouble believing that Christmas is just a week away. The signs are here: Christmas trees and music abound, there's snow on the ground, and the kids run to tell me they have changed what they want Santa to bring them every time they see a toy commercial. I even went to Chloe's Christmas program at school, but it only made me and Carter feel like we were in an episode of The Simpsons or something. It's very surreal to realize you have a bona fide elementary school-er and are now obliged to listen to children sing cheesy songs to prerecorded music.

Anyway, I know I should be in a baking/wrapping/shopping frenzy. But the holiday still seems so far away. I think it has to do with the fact that I just spent a week on a tropical island. I've had WAY too many warm breezes and sunshiny days to really believe that it's THAT time of year. The lovely people of Kauai tried to signal the season:

I took this right before we had to go to the airport. "Let It Snow" was playing on the loud speaker. I clearly remember thinking, "No! Please don't! You don't know what you're saying!"

As you can see, Christmas images mixed with palm trees and leis can confuse a person's brain. The whole week I kept thinking, "Why do they have Santas and Christmas trees everywhere in the middle of summer?" before it would dawn on me, "Duh. It's December."

Not that UT isn't trying very hard to pull me out of my tropical haze. Frigid temperatures and falling snow definitely help the Christmas decorations make more sense. But something tells me the baking/wrapping/shopping frenzy won't happen this year. I don't want to kill my relaxed island buzz.