** OFFICIAL THREAD - CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN 2012 **
Yes, Friends. Here we are once again.
The first of January.
The start of a new year.
And thus one more year of countdowning begins!
Here are the statistics since we began the Season countdown idea 8 years ago:
2004 = 1217 posts (Christmas.com) = 3.3 posts per day.
2005 = Over 2,700 posts (Christmas.com) = over 7.4 posts per day.
2006 = 3,756 posts (The Christmas Place) = 10.3 posts per day.
2007 = 1,957 posts (My Merry Christmas, where the thread was not launched until July) = 12.1 posts per day.
2008 = 5,103 posts = 13.9 posts per day. (Wow!)
2009 = 8,231 posts = 22.6 posts per day. (Unbelievable!)
2010 = 16,226 posts = 44.5 posts per day! (Astounding, to say the least!)
2011 = 31,091 posts = 85.2 posts per day! (Beyond words! I never would have believed it possible!!)
And now here we are ready to go again, at the start of 2012.
A word of explanation. We are running a dual countdown in this thread - one for Christmas Day and one for the start of the Christmas Season (November 13).
Most all of us have agreed that we look forward to the entire Christmas Season rather than just to Christmas Day.
Why November 13? No reason, really. It just seems about the right time to regard the season as arriving. That date is exactly 6 weeks before Christmas Day and is about the time the country at large is beginning to really get into the holiday spirit. Most of the stores have decorated. And starting the season then gives us exactly 50 days (Nov 13 through Jan 1) to enjoy being "within" the season.
We also enjoy noting special "milestones" along the way (see the chart below).
At 90 percent complete, we begin the "home stretch" as we move into the final days before the season begins.
Allright, Everyone!
Hop aboard one more time and enjoy reading the posts/following the count, which begins today at 317* to the Season and 359* to Christmas Day.
* (Special note: 2012 is a leap year, and as such, we must wait another day for the Season to start and for Christmas Day to arrive!)
Here is a handy list of our Christmas Season and Christmas Day countdown milestone markers.
** [ I have not modified it for Leap Year, but day 300 for both the Season and Christmas Day will be one day later than shown.
The Day 200 and Day 100 markers do not change.
The other markers change by only fractions of days, so there is really no point recalcualting. ] **
CHRISTMAS SEASON MILESTONE MARKER CHART
January 17 = Day 300 **
February 12 = 1/4 mark
March 15 = 1/3 mark
April 27 = Day 200
May 15 = 1/2 mark
July 14 = 2/3 mark
August 05 = Day 100
August 14 = 3/4 mark
October 07 = 90 percent (The Home Stretch begins)
November 13 = THE SEASON ARRIVES!
CHRISTMAS DAY MILESTONE MARKER CHART
February 28 = Day 300 **
March 26 = 1/4 mark
April 26 = 1/3 mark
June 8 = Day 200
June 26 = 1/2 mark
August 25 = 2/3 mark
Sept 16 = Day 100
Sept 25 = 3/4 mark
Nov 18 = 90 percent
December 25 = MERRY CHRISTMAS!
- CROWN
