If you want to see your coworkers get riled up, one of the ways you can make that happen is to informally poll everyone about whether Christmas decorations should go up before or after Thanksgiving.

The other way would be to announce coffee is banned from the office and remove all the Keurigs. Actually, that would cause straight-up mutiny – don’t do that.

The Christmas before-or-after debate comes with solid rationale and reasons for both sides. Folks who love Thanksgiving don’t want the holiday forgotten, which makes sense. Folks who love Christmas never believe in it being too early to bring the holiday cheer in.

I made it pretty obvious which side I’m on in my last post about the magnificent, bubblegum-pink Christmas tree in my living room. I like to put my tree up before or as close to Nov. 16th as possible. Why the 16th, you’re (likely not) asking? Because Nov. 16th is exactly one month out from my birthday, and in a week and a half later, it’s Christmas. It’s the day where the seasons really start to shift away from autumn and those warm crisp colors to the cooler, grayer, darker days of winter-to-come.

But before that dark winter sets in, there’s brightness and celebration. The world seems to cheer up and folks seem a little peppier even while dealing with the stress of holiday planning and life in general. Mid-November in years past was my time to slip out of work or running mode and settle in. Granted, this year is a little different with running – I’ve spent the past three weeks getting back into it after taking time off to reboot. But, with the energy boost from the holidays approaching, I’ve found that getting back into the swing of things is easier. My runner’s high is back and all I want to do now is run. I’m coming alive and feeling like the old me.

And part of feeling like the old me – getting excited for the fun and fracas.

I have all but two of the presents bought, which is a huge stressor off my plate (and because I refuse to step foot in a mall in December unless it’s an emergency.) I’m having a ball looking through my cookbooks and deciding which recipes to pick for the cookie tins I’m taking my folks and Grandma. Two of the cookies are old classics, while the other two are new ones to me. I’ve been slowly stocking up on baking supplies, although an emergency run to Giant Eagle isn’t the worst thing that can happen.

Which means from today until my birthday and Christmas, I don’t have to worry and I can enjoy the fun stuff – light displays, my annual trip downtown to see the Christmas decorations. Maybe I’ll make a pit stop at Easton to look at their tree, or I’ll explore the Short North Pole and get Jeni’s for my walk back. There’s so much possibility with Christmas time in the city.

That’s a word I forgot about for the longest time: possibility. Maybe that’s why I love my birthday month and Christmas. They mark the ending of the previous year of my life and the previous calendar year. With those two ending, there opens a new door for what 31 and 2023 can hold. Today is Day One.

And in the true Day One spirit, I’m feeling alive and ready for what’s about to come.

I hope you all find magic in the upcoming season, Reader-friends.

Yours in running and life,

Allison