December?  Wow, that came up fast.  And it's funny, I'm not feeling the holiday love yet.  And I hear that I'm not the only one.  Maybe it's because we've been ignoring the Christmas displays since before the Back to School stuff was even gone.  Maybe it's because we're not sure what we're going to buy for each person, and haven't started any shopping yet.  Or is it worry about overspending, excess, flat Christmas cookies, dull tinsel, misspellings on my Christmas cards, or why all of my nativity sets are missing important players and whether it's okay to mix and match the sets?  Perhaps non-stop Christmas songs will help.  Or, maybe it will be the end of Marty's sanity.  Hard to say.

Whatever the answers to all of those questions - it hardly matters because Christmastime is here, and it's time to Santa Up.  To help me (and any of you) get into the Christmas groove and start to feel the spirit, I'm starting a new self-imposed assignment today.  It's an Advent Calendar of sorts, except that it's only on this site and there aren't any little chocolates hidden behind the photos.  I don't know exactly how it's going to work because I haven't made up all the rules yet.  But there will be photos, probably not a lot of writing, and surprises! (unless there aren't, in which case the big surprise will be that NOTHING else will happen except MORE photos!).

Welcome to the project that is certain to lift our holiday spirits: