Christmas Shopping in the Sunshine

I started my Christmas shopping this week.

It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's still 80 degrees outside and it was a weird experience planning ahead when there's not a cloud in the sky.

The weather recently has been perfect. Not the humid sticky heat we get during the summer. It's been warm but with a nice breeze and we've been able to shut off the air conditioning and open the windows, which is something you don't get to do often in Houston.

I hate shopping usually, but it's much easier than back home, especially if you start early enough. For a start, the shops are much bigger, with a wider selection and open longer hours as standard. There's always lots of space to park, and the lines at the check out aren't too bad.

The shops have been preparing for Christmas for a while now but now we're into November they're going into full seasonal assault mode.

Christmas music is playing, the displays are set up with wintery scenes of snowmen and hot chocolate, but it doesn't quite feel like Christmas yet. Because we're only just into November probably.

Cooler weather is cool

It's coming up to the end of October and the weather is almost perfect.

It gets very hot in Houston in the summer but this time of year it gets a bit cooler, while still being nicer than summer back in Manchester.

It was around 80 degrees yesterday and glorious sunshine so we've been able to turn off the air conditioning for a couple of days and open the windows.

It doesn't take much to get us excited these days!