Fantastical Fundraising

I was reminded of that the other day when I was tooling around a store looking for some not-too-cheesy decorations for autumn. I rounded a corner — and there it was. One huge chunk of those multi-tiered shelves that display greeting cards was empty, and sitting next to it was a pile of big cardboard boxes waiting to be unloaded. Christmas cards, no doubt. Mind you, it was Sept. 17. Our pool wasn't even closed for the season yet. I hadn't had my first bag of candy corn for 2011. Or answered the age-old question of canned vs. homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.