One Week to Christmas

*It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling-- the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.*
-Washington Irving

What could be more creative and quaint than giving the "12 Days of Christmas" to your true love? People out there have actually been calculating this cost (the "Christmas Price Index") for 28 years! Click here to see the breakdown.

Some more Christmas numbers:

*32 MPH: The top speed of a reindeer

*778 hours: The amount of time it would take a reindeer to fly around the world at that pace

*-128.6 F: The lowest official temperature recorded on earth in Vostok, Antarctica, in 1983. Baby, THAT'S cold outside!

*30-35 million: The number of live Christmas trees sold each year in the United States

*15 years: The average amount of time Christmas trees usually grow before they're sold

*16: The number of extra postmen hired in 1822 Washington, DC, to handle the extra Christmas mail

*1895: The first year electric lights were used on Christmas trees

*5,340: The average number of Visa cards used every minute during the Christmas buying season

*70%: The percentage of annual revenue many retailers make in the month preceding Christmas

*5 million tons: the amount of trash produced by Americans between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day