So, Halloween is over, is it time for Christmas yet?

    Time to place a large check mark in the box of holidays successfully survived. This is truly one of my favorite tasks. Holidays, to me, are alot like weddings. Tons of planning, anticipation, "How many days until..?" questions, and once its over, I find myself reconnecting with my epiphany that "the joy is in the anticipation". Really, I mean, how could anything ever compete with the brilliant scenarios we create within our minds. The kids have it even worse in this regard, because they haven't been ground down over many years of adult life. That, added to the masterfully crafted barrage of Halloween programs on the idiot box, which detail events that, if they ever actually took place here on earth, would warrant the governor calling out the national guard. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good holiday as much as the next guy, but aren't we all trying a little too hard to make up for any percieved shortcomings in our own childhood? My daughter, who just turned five, came home from pre-school Friday with a brown paper grocery bag so heavy with Halloween booty that she was unable to hoist it out of the car herself. Can anyone say "overkill"?  At this point, after the neighbors all put their best feet forward Saturday night, we are awash in sugar, chocolate, and high fructose corn syrup. I truly did my best to assist them in eating it all on Sunday, to no avail. It barely seems as though we've made a dent in it. This is, however, the American paradigm. "Bigger, Better, Faster, More", is lived out in any number of grotesque ways every day here in suburban world. It's as if we assume without question that those four words are somehow interconnected. How did that happen?