OMG! Have you been naughty or nice?

It's the 24th October today and I have to tell you that it is just 19 more sleeps to the Adelaide Christmas pageant when Santa comes to town! Now I know this is true, because when I went shopping on Sunday, I was confronted by this as I entered the local department store........

Then as I skirted around the displays using considerable constraint to prevent myself from snapping up one of the Jim Shore Santa's  (I am a collector you know...) I then left the store and was confronted by this!!

With Santa's chair ready and waiting...............

and one redeeming feature.........

A Nativity Scene.

I have to admit, I am a little bit excited.  I LOVE Christmas.  All the build up to the big day, decorating the house, putting up the tree (on the day Santa comes to town)!  Lots of  parties, food, drink, shopping, cooking.  And all the pretty decorations and weird gifts in shops.  And the fake snow!

Don't forget we will be in full Summer.  The Christmas pageant can be a sunny 32 degrees Celcius!  Sometimes it rains.  But the pageant has never been cancelled..... or was it -  only once during the war....

Anyway take a look at what we have to look forward to  here .

The pageant is really for the little ones, and as an adult it is 'not nice' to go and stand in front where a child could have full view of all the wonder of the floats that lead Santa to his Magic Cave.  And with crowds lining the streets in the thousands, I could enjoy the pageant like I did unexpectedly last year here .

It just isn't the same without little ones to take, and I am not a grandma yet!

Last year I got all interested in  Nigella and her Christmas recipes - but I ran out of time.  Christmas snuck up on us so quickly.  So now I will have another chance to make that chocolate christmas cake and the gingerbread christmas cookie tree.

So with Santa making his list and checking it twice, I want to make sure I make it onto 'Nice'.

We still have some time...............