I’m sure I usually get a dumb look on my face when people say ‘I loved your article last week!’

As I write a week ahead and sometimes don’t know which of my articles will be published in Lacombe and which one will be in Red Deer I can never tell exactly which one they are referring to; that and I have a very short memory!

As I’m dating my article for next week (now today, Nov 25th if you are reading the paper) I realize that it will be exactly one month until Christmas exactly one week from now!

Do you now see why I get so confused? The 30-day countdown will be on and that means that I am very under-prepared.

Visiting my friend last night smacked me in the face with that concept as she already has her trees decorated and all of her festive items on display – yikes. Maybe this will be the year I skip the decorations and run away for the holidays to avoid all the festive baking and eating, it’s nice to dream.

So readers, ONE MONTH! Are you ready? Have you started?

Do you realize that supermarkets already have their new festive food items for sale and have you read the latest on this year’s ‘must have’ colour for the season? You haven’t done any of this yet, have you? There is no time to waste, you must hurry to your local craft store and buy up all the gold leaf you can to decorate your cookies and to sprinkle a whisper of it into your festive hot chocolate.

Gold is the must have item of the season and there is no better way to show off your savvy then to have the real deal adorning your holiday masterpieces.

Okay, giggle break is over.

That last paragraph put me into high maintenance designer mode and it seriously made me laugh. To read some of these blog posts and ads you would think your life is coming to an end if you don’t possess the must have fabulous gold napkin rings which will ENSURE your happiness and peace this Christmas season.

Humbug. It is time to dial everything back and to take a break with people that we love. It is time to start looking ahead at volunteering or adopting a family this year to give them a little more than what they have been struggling without this year.

Yes, I love to entertain and believe me I went through years of agony over having the perfectly set table (thanks Mom) but I’ve realized that a full table filled with home-cooked food is just as joyful whether or not I have four different stemware options to guide my guests from the Cabernet through to the Calvados.

Where people gather, huddle and share is the place to be and the décor of the gathering becomes the must have of that particular season.

You have been given fair warning, now you can decide. In exactly one month, Christmas will be arriving whether we are ready for it or not. How will you choose to spend these next precious weeks? Spend it on people or for people and let those people know you love them; they won’t miss the gold adorned shortbread – I promise.

Kim Wyse is a local freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Designer’.