Don't judge me but not only have I devoured my first box of mince pies and bought most of my Christmas presents but I've also bought my Christmas turkey and Christmas pudding. Not that unusual for me - with such a big family you have to be organised and spread both the workload and cost.
But one thing is different this year -we already have our tree up.
Actually we have two as I have a mini one I picked up at the supermarket at the weekend because it was so cute I couldn't resist it! It also went very well with the newly painted walls in my lounge. I made a batch of eggnog (dairy free with a hefty slug of Jack Daniels Honey added )and drank quite a lot of it while I admired the tree on my mantelpiece.
To be fair, I am a bit bonkers about Christmas and usually get the decorations up during the first week in December. During the past few years it's gone up around December 1 as I was working with a Christmas tree delivery company who gifted us a tree and the owners obviously wanted me to promote their products before everyone had bought their trees elsewhere.
No excuse this year - the tree was sourced and paid for by me and has come from a local Christmas Tree farm which grows their sustainable trees just a couple of miles from my home near the border of Beds, Herts and Bucks.
I have seen lots of people on social media, including the very lovely Gok Wan, showing off their Christmas decorations over the last week or so with some people getting their tree up as early as October decorated with Halloween themed items.
At first I scoffed but chatting to my youngest children who have had such a tough year and seeing how keen they are to start the festive season I decided to risk scorn and get a tree.
I picked it up this morning and it's in my conservatory which is quite cool so should last to see the big day. I can't wait to see the children's faces when they get home from school and think we will have a lovely evening decorating it.
Yes it's too early but I think we could do with a bit of Christmas magic in our lives and seeing the lights and decorations on our tree always brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart.