Yesterday evening, we drove home from my parent’s across Montgomery County. My Little Guy counted 7 houses that HAVE UP LIGHTS… one had the whole almost annoying display of reindeer, Santa and various 4-foot-tall candy canes lit up in every color light imaginable (I didn’t know they made purple candy cane displays… but who am I?).

Thanksgiving is a little late this year, I know this because like everyone, I can look at a calendar (duh) but also because we were at my parents house to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and last year, her birthday was on Thanksgiving.

I even saw a Christmas Tree up and decorated through the window of 1 home, complemented by outside lights framing their window and house.

It’s not Thanksgiving yet! Give Thanksgiving it’s due. Besides, where the heck do you get a tree before Thanksgiving? It has to be fake or you cut it down yourself on some mountain or foothill (I think it’s pretty cool I just used an incredibly random word like ‘foothill’ in my blog).

On the other hand, maybe I am a little jealous… my son’s birthday is December 18th, so we don’t decorate until AFTER HIS BIRTHDAY, the morning of December 19th. We have a tradition now, which I’ve blogged about.

I still have my Thanksgiving scarecrow in my front yard and suddenly feel very silly still having various pumpkins around my home…

But you can’t overlap holiday decorations so these people who have up their Christmas decorations have had to pack away their Thanksgiving decorations already, and Thanksgiving is THIS Thursday, IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET…

And we know they have Thanksgiving decorations because if you have Christmas decorations, you certainly have Thanksgiving ones because it’s frankly, an easy holiday to decorate for- get some gourds and mums and keep out a couple of fake pumpkins from Halloween and you’re done.

Has anyone else seen Holiday lights up in their neighborhood?  Have you decorated for Christmas or Hanukkah already?  Is this a singular cosmic phenomenon that occurs when Thanksgiving is ‘late’?  Do people then choose to forgo Thanksgiving decorations for the NEXT, BIGGER HOLIDAY?!

Do moms literally sit down with their calendars and decide to take down Thanksgiving decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving?

Giant Food.  I got to enjoy a wonderful lunch, cool fellow DC Metro Mom Bloggers, and great tips on food and shopping from Giant.

Robin Michel, Executive Vice President of Giant, and a MOM, spoke to us, but more importantly, LISTENED to us about likes, and dislikes, and what would make our lives easier.

Giant is continuing to make their stores more ‘mom friendly’.  Just look at the gift baskets they will be selling in all of their stores soon!

  Aren’t they beautiful? And these will be reasonably priced. This translates to me=       great, no-sweat gift to just pick up for a party/ housewarming/ pick-me-up for a friend!

The MOST IMPORTANT aspect of this luncheon was not that the food was delicious, (it was),

not that the company was great, (it was),

not that the information was helpful, (it was),

BUT that Giant food, is speaking 1-on-1 with mothers, their shoppers.  Giant food is also recognizing the power of mom bloggers.  I read just online yesterday that ‘mommy bloggers’ are taking over the world. And anyone who was at BlogHer DC in October can’t forget Leslie Stahl announcing that ‘blogging and the online community’- is the future. 

Yes, we’re taking over the world, life is good, but like all mothers-
I must juggle world-domination with figuring out ‘what’s for dinner’. So, as Thanksgiving creeps closer, here are some helpful hints, courtesy of Giant:

* Purchase ‘anytime’ items now (frozen food, canned food, beverages, decorations).

* Buy your turkey in advance and freeze it (just remember that a frozen turkey can take 2 to 4 days to defrost in your refrigerator)

* Use a meat thermometer to cook your turkey – to take the guess-work out!

AND PS- Giant is offering pre-made Thanksgiving dinners, if you don’t want to cook.  AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I may take advantage of this next one- pre-made/made-to-order SIDE DISHES for Thanksgiving…

I have a little secret– I ordered stuffing from the Giant deli YEARS AGO for Thanksgiving… and my father-in-law still raves about it (I hope he’s not doing a lot of online reading today, he still thinks it was homemade).