Christmas time is.....here?

I get a little irritated with retailers, and the commercialism that has become Christmas. I also get irritated with over zealous Christians who think they have to get mad at anyone that says "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". (See April's blog it's really good). Let's start with the former.
There are 2 count them 2 local radio stations that started playing non-stop Christmas music the day after Halloween! Wal-Mart also started playing Christmas music over their loudspeakers the same day. Retailers often start putting out decorations for people to buy even before Oct 31st. Why? It's all a conspiracy to make more money. By the time Christmas actually gets here people are no longer excited and filled with holiday cheer. They are sick of hearing "Jingle Bells" and they are tired of fighting the crowds and they get frustrated because they are running out of time and "Oh no! We forgot to get something for the Johnsons!" For heaven's sake whatever happened to Thanksgiving? Do we even remember this holiday? I believe that Thanksgiving gets overlooked more and more every year. All I'm saying is the retailers often ruin it for those of us that really love this time of year. I find myself trying to find the balance between ignoring the retailer's "buy more" push and enjoying winter and the holidays the way they are meant to be enjoyed.
I won't go into the latter issue, other than to say that some Christians are ridiculous for making a huge deal out of "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". My main reason behind this: So many of our "Christmas" traditions come from pagan holiday rituals. Do a web search on it, you'll be surprised.
Let the holidays just be a time of celebrating. Yes, if you are a Christian by all means celebrate the fact that God sent his Son to this earth for the redemption of our sins....we do. Celebrate the special time with family and friends. Just don't go ballistic either way.