It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

One of my favorite movies is "About a Boy." The movie, set in London, stars Hugh Grant as a quirky man who forges an unlikely relationship with an even quirkier young boy. Hugh's character, Will, doesn't work - he lives off the royalties of the only successful song his father ever wrote, a wildly popular holiday tune called "Santa's Super Sleigh." The song has allowed Will to live an enviable life, but he cringes whenever he hears it.
A pivotal scene in the movie comes when Will is grocery shopping and "Santa's Super Sleigh" comes over the store intercom for the first time that holiday season.
"November the sodding 19th," Will grumbles. He knows that means the festive period has started.
I love that movie so much. And I couldn't help but think of it today - because it is, after all, November the sodding 19th. And like Will, I got bombarded with holiday sight and sounds today. Only I was thrilled about it!
I ventured down to the Oxford High Street today. I had specific errands in mind, all concerning our trip to Budapest tomorrow. I bought one of those little foldout, tuck-in-your-pocket map books we've become addicted to - and I had to hit the Bureau de Change at Marks & Spencer to get some Hungarian money. The currency in Hungary is the forint. I gave them 100 pounds sterling and walked away with 30,000 forints. I'm rich!
Anyway, when I got to Oxford Street, every store was decked out in its holiday finery. Trees everywhere, lights, tinsel, music. I love it!
The only thing that compromised this run-up to Christmas was today's weather. It's really warm here - much warmer than in North Carolina. We didn't need coats today - a sweater was fine. Hey, it's November the sodding 19th ... a little chill would be appreciated!
Random note: Are you a "Dancing with the Stars" fan? The hottest thing on British TV is "Strictly Come Dancing," and let me tell you, this is serious business.
One of this season's contestants is 64-year-old John Sergeant, a retired political columnist. He's a huge audience favorite but a terrible dancer. He basically stands there and lets his partner dance around him. Every week the judges rate him lowest but the audience votes keep him in. This week, a judge favorite got knocked off and now the judges are furious. The show airs on Saturday and every day since, judges have spoken out in the press about how bad he is for the show, what a terrible dancer he is and how he's making a mockery of the show.
Today, Sergeant quit. He said it looked like there might be a real chance he could win, and that just wouldn't be right.
You cannot believe what a big deal this is. It's the top story in every newspaper tonight. It's the top story on the news. "Strictly" is serious business here in the UK!