I'm a pretty big fan of Christmas and all it stands for … well, for the most part.

Still, I love the excitement and anticipation that shows on people's faces. I enjoy the thought of getting something special for a special someone — hi, sweetie — and I thrive on the challenge of postponing — yes, I've heard the insidious accusations of "procrastination" — shopping until there are only three shopping days before Christmas.

What I don't love, though, is the seeming fact that the Christmas season starts the week after the Fourth of Firecrackers.

Display sections in general stores and the openings of Christmas-specific stores started appearing months ago. Sure, it was just a little at first, but like all good junkies, the goods were displayed in greater and greater, faster and faster amounts as the pages of the calendar flipped.

Seriously, here we are a week before Thanksgiving, and some soft-rock-whatever radio stations already have gone all-Bing-Crosby-all-the-time. Jake Batt, the owners of the recently reopened — and good for him — Franki's Li'l Europe, told me the other day that the shopping center official holiday tunes collection is in the hands of owners and managers at Casa Linda. Fa-la-la-la-la … la-la-la-la.