Hard to believe, but 10 weeks from today is Thanksgiving Eve.  And that means that it's not too early to start planning.

The big question at this point is where you will celebrate. If you need to make travel plans, do it immediately. (If you are looking for a plane ticket, you may be too late. Please don't be like the people I saw last year who showed up at the bus terminal the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, only to find out that there were no seats left and they couldn't get home.)

If your celebration is local and you aren't hosting, buy some nice wine when you see it on sale and you are golden.

If you attend a potluck, now is a good time to decide who makes what. If you are hosting, you need to start developing your guest list and menu.

If you haven't hosted in a while, it may be a good idea to start trying to remember where your china, silver, and table linens are!

Remember, there's NO NEED to buy all the special Thanksgiving stuff that stores will be trying to foist on you. No one needs a turkey shaped soup tureen or a serving plater with turkeys, pumpkins, and leaves. You can only use those things one day a year, but you have to store them for the other 364. Use Thanksgiving sales to buy things you need that you can use all year round, for example, a nice tablecloth and cloth napkins, a good roasting pan, or basic serverware. Avoid the kitschy and the themed. You don't need it.