What ever happened to New Year's?

For the New Year, Abby and I decided to have a little fun with the New Year's celebrations. So we made Jell-O shots, Pudding Shots (delicious), and stopped by Wal-Mart (yes, the corrupt corporate giant has weaseled its way into little ol' Galena, Illinois) to pick up some New Year paraphenalia. Nothing too exotic - just your run-of-the-mill party hats, party poppers and party horns.

With our husbands drunk back at the ranch, and less than 30 hours to go before 2007, Abby and I scoured the Wal-Mart aisles. Our first instinct was to just enter the store; surely, with so few hours before the big night, there would be endcaps galore of the stuff. But nothing.

So we meandered to the birthday party aisle, thinking they lumped all party stuff together. There were birthday hats and birthday plates. But nothing New Year's.

Finally, we were regulated to asking one of the friendly Wal-Mart workers for advice. "I think they got poppers in the grocery section." Yes...one measly stand-alone in the middle of the aisle with picked-over favors. That was it.

Along the way in our search, we came across any entire aisle of Valentine's Day treats. An entire aisle! In December! But no New Year's stuff.

My point (and I'm eventually getting there) is that we, as consumers, are once again ushered through a holiday, just so we can get to the next milestone. With one foot still in the Christmas (er, holiday) season, we are distracted with another holiday which isn't for another two months. Are we living in a culture that needs constant stimuli? Are we incapable, as a society, of living in the present? Is business that greedy for the next nickel that they try to squeeze money out of consumers every chance they get?

Let's take a collective pause, catch our breath, and recognize where we are before our lives pass us by, marked only by holiday-themed candy and party favors. It is 2007. We have just celebrated Christmas and are still enjoying our holiday goodies.

I, for one, am not even going to think about pink and red hearts until Febraury 14th.