Christmas Has Come to Portland.

It's true.  And with no further adieu, here are the top ten reasons I know Christmas has come early to Portland:

10.  On November 1st, the day after Halloween, for crying out loud, I watched TV for about 20 minutes and saw FIVE Christmas commercials.  It's gotten worse ever since.

9.  We've all seen them, right?  The Christmas displays in the stores?  I've seen them in Costco, Fred Meyer, KMart, WalMart, Target...and some of them were up well before Halloween.  Oh, man.  And I've already gotten several e-mails from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, and several other stores about Christmas sales.

8.  "The Wizard of Oz" was on TV this weekend, and it was on at least 2 different stations, for multiple nights in a row.  And we all know that if "The Wizard of Oz" or "The Sound of Music" is on TV, the holidays are right around the corner, right?

7.  The "Holiday Hours" schedule has been up at 24 Hour Fitness for at least 3 weeks now.

6.  Not last weekend, but the one before that, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was in town.  (Someday I SO want to go to that!) That same weekend I also went to the Holiday Food and Gift Festival.  No joke.  And it was glorious.  And I only bought...well, like 3 things.  Maybe some of you will benefit from these purchases.  I know you're excited.  Which leads me to my next point...

5.  My Christmas shopping is already well underway.  'Nuff said.

4.  I bought my plane tickets!  (See previous post!)

3.  One of the local radio stations had a "Christmas Preview Weekend," where they played nothing but Christmas music from 5 PM on Friday through first thing Monday morning.  Yes, that was the weekend of the 7th, 8th, and 9th of NOVEMBER.

2.  The official Christmas tree was delivered to Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland last Friday and is now being decorated for the big Christmas tree lighting the day after Thanksgiving.  (If you've been watching the news, you probably also know the Christmas tree was delivered to Rockefeller Square in NYC.)  And as I've driven home through downtown Portland the last couple weeks, I've noticed the trees lining the streets are decked out in white lights, and there are giant snowflakes on all the lampposts.

and finally...

1.  As of last Friday, November 14, at about 7:15 AM, the Portland radio station K103 is playing nothing but Christmas music ALL the time from now until Christmas!  (It's also streaming on their website if you don't live in the area but are looking for a little Christmas spirit.)

Woohoo!!  Bring on the Christmas cheer!  If only it snowed in Portland...