Ranks of "getting caught up in the holiday spirit," "love" and "simply not thinking about how much is being spent" on the list of primary reasons for exceeding a personal holiday spending limit, according to a TD Bank poll: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of shoppers who said they used credit cards to pay for gifts this year: 38

Percentage who will use debit cards: 31

Source: TD Bank.

Percentage of people who say relatives overstay their welcome after a day or less, with some saying their family members wear out their welcome as soon as they arrive, according to a special edition of the HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report: 22

Percentage who say relatives overstay their welcome after just a few days: 29

Percentage who say their relatives never wear out their welcome: 37

Source: HomeAway.

Percentage of people who selected "dog or other pet" as the most normal member of their family, according to a poll conducted by the Social Beat Research Group: 76

Percentage who picked "me" -- a distant second place, and likely the response of someone without pets: 12

Source: TMarkTees.com.

Day that the U.S. Postal Service says is traditionally the heaviest mailing day of the year, about a 40 percent rise from the normal daily volume, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: Dec. 14

While the holiday season easily produces the heaviest volume, estimated number of pieces of mail the Postal Sevice delivers annually: 170.5 billion

Number of employees it takes to handle this astounding volume: 672,000

Number of postal facilities around the country: 27,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of American children who reach the age of 17 with both their biological parents married (since before or around the time of their birth), according to Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute in its second annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection: 45.8

Source: Family Research Council.

Percentage of women who say the economy has helped them focus on what's important during the holidays, according to an American Red Cross poll: 66

Percentage of men who say the same: 49

Percentage of women who say they feel badly they can't give more to charity this year, compared to 51 percent of men: 71

Source: American Red Cross.

Ranks of spend more time with family and friends, fitness, tame the bulge, quit smoking, enjoy life more, quit drinking, get out of debt, learn something new, help others, get organized on the top 10 list of New Year's resolutions, according to Albrecht Powell, About.com Guide: 1 to 10

Source: About.com.

Ranks of Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia and Ava on the list of the most popular girls names of 2011, according to BabyCenter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Aiden, Jackson, Mason, Liam and Jacob on the list of the most popular boys names of 2011: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: BabyCenter.

Number of paid vacation days the average American employee has left unused at the end of each year, according to results of the American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive: 6.2

During the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2010, the average percentage drop in hotel prices on Hotwire.com vs. the peak summer months: 10

When compared to the peak season, percentage drop in airfares during the first weeks of December 2010: 9

When compared to the peak season, percentage drop in car rental prices during the first weeks of December 2010: 23

Source: Hotwire.com.

Year that Christmas Seals first appeared in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1907

Amount of money expected to be raised at the time by selling special stamps designed by Emily Bissell to put on Christmas mailings, with the profits helping in the fight against tuberculosis, then the nation's No. 1 killer: $300

Estimated amount actually raised: $3,000

Amount raised the following year, 1908: $135,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Idle Thought

"The path of least resistance makes all rivers, and some men, crooked." -- Napoleon Hill

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Rank of innocent and friendly gift exchanges like "Yankee Swap" and "Secret Santa" on the list of the most likely areas for regifting, according to a study for national off-price home fashions retailer HomeGoods: 1

Whether guilty or not, percentage of suspected regifts that come from co-workers: 46

Percentage that come from friends: 21

Source: HomeGoods.

Though 67 percent of Americans didn't think the economic downturn would last this long, percentage of respondents who still want to give to charities and expect to donate more or about the same this holiday season as they did last year, according to an American Red Cross poll: 70

Percentage of Americans who believe that because of the economy, it's important to give something to charity (an increase of 10 percentage points over last year): 68

Source: American Red Cross.

Percentage of parents who have procrastinated with their holiday to-do lists, who say that they have had to run errands in the middle of the night to get ready for Christmas morning: 32

Percentage of parents who report that they have not been able to buy the toy their child(ren) wanted for the holidays because they procrastinated in getting their holiday shopping done: 23

Percentage of parents who say that it is important to them to create a memorable Christmas for their children: 89

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

If one were to assume that Santa works in the realm of standard time, estimated length of time he would be able to spend per home, according to NORAD: 2 to 3 ten-thousandths of a second

Length of time his Christmas Eve trip may seem to us to take, but to Santa it may last days, weeks or even months in time because he functions within a different time-space continuum than the rest of us do: 24 hours

Estimated age of Santa Claus: 16,000 years

Source: NORAD.

Year that the first tree debuted at Rockefeller Center -- standing 20 feet tall and erected by construction workers eager to receive a day's pay in the depths of the Depression, according to Time Magazine: 1931

Height of the 2011 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree: 74 feet

Weight: 10 tons

Age of the Norway spruce tree: 75 years

Source: Time Magazine.

Compared to last year, percentage increase in the price index in the whimsical economic analysis by PNC Wealth Management based on the prices of gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas": 3.5

According to the 27th annual survey, current price tag for these gifts: $24,263.18

Cost if you want to buy the whole shebang from a single partridge to twelve drummers drumming for each verse (that's 364 separate pieces of Christmas joy): $101,119.84

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Average amount of time women spend cleaning their homes each week, according to a national survey conducted by StrategyOne and commissioned by Georgia-Pacific: 116 minutes

Amount of cleaning time that at-home Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers can add to that, including time spent before and after parties: 4 hours (240 minutes)

Whether messes are caused by an overflow of sweet potato casserole or puddles of spilled gravy, ranks of Christmas (57.3 percent), Thanksgiving (32.5 percent) and New Year's (3.4 percent) on the list of the messiest holidays: 1, 2, 3

Source: StrategyOne.

Value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China between January and September 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: $983 million

Value of U.S. imports of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States from China during the same period: $79.7 million

Value of U.S. toy imports -- including stuffed toys (including dolls), puzzles and electric trains -- from China between January and September 2011: $2.5 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who plan to travel this holiday season, according to the results of the annual TripAdvisor December holiday travel survey: 43

Percentage of travelers who think travelers, in general, behave with worse manners toward one another than usual during the "season of good will": 23

Despite the current economic climate, percentage of respondents who say the economy has not impacted their December holiday travel plans: 76

Source: TripAdvisor.

Year from which the first written record comes of a decorated Christmas tree in Riga, Latvia, according to History.com's Christmas section: 1510

Year from which a record from Alsace, France, states that trees were sold in the marketplace and brought home and set up undecorated -- laws limiting the size to "8 shoe lengths" (slightly more than 4 feet): 1530

Period it became common in Germany to decorate Christmas trees with apples: 1600s

Source: History.com.

Idle Thought

"Every man is a damned fool for at least five minutes every day. Wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit." -- Elbert Hubbard, author, editor and printer (1856-1915)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of working adults who admitted that they were thankful to be distracted by work email during the holidays, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 15

Percentage of those who said they check work email during a holiday who admitted that they did so while at holiday parties or meals: 10

Source: Harris Interactive.

When asked how they would spend a holiday bonus this year, percentage of respondents earning over $100,000 who say they are likely to invest it, according to a Deloitte survey: 22

Percentage of those earning less than $100,000 who say they will invest it: 11

Percentage of those in the lower income brackets who say they will likely use it to pay for everyday necessities: 31

Source: Deloitte Public Relations.

Year that push-button, or touch-tone, phones made their debut, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1963

At that time, percentage of U.S. homes that had telephones: 81

Today, estimated number of cellphone subscribers (fast replacing landline phones) in the U.S.: 300 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who suspect they've been the recipients of a re-gift, according to a study for national off-price home fashions retailer HomeGoods: 65

Percentage of respondents who have re-gifted a present at least once: 54

Percentage who are repeat offenders: 36

Source: HomeGoods.

Percentage who say the biggest mistake at work during the holiday season is not attending the holiday party, according to a Randstad survey: 11

Percentage of workers who feel that holiday parties help to build morale: 78

Percentage who would rather receive a bonus than have a holiday party: 93

Source: Randstad-USA.

Ranks of crowded shops, early Christmas hype, "None of them -- I love Christmas," and commercialization on the list of responses from people who were asked to name their top Christmas hates, according to research by money-saving website DiscountVouchers.co.uk: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: DiscountVouchers.co.uk.

Percentage of people who said they intend to use the gift cards received this Xmas on day-to-day expenses (groceries, gas, etc.), according to a TD Bank poll: 31

Percentage who intend to use them on household items (kitchenware, furniture, etc.) or living expenses (bills, rent, etc.): 11

Percentage of holiday shoppers who say they haven't saved at all for the holidays: 68

Source: TD Bank.

Percentage of parents who like to be prepared for the holiday shopping season, according to a survey of parents who buy gifts for their children at Christmastime, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Duracell: 82

Percentage of moms who like to plan ahead for holiday shopping -- compared to 76 percent of dads: 88

Percentage of moms who have done Christmas shopping at the last minute -- compared to 56 percent of dads: 46

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Rank of the Ford Focus on the list of Car Connection's "Best Cars to Buy 2012," according to High Gear Media: 1

Rank of the Porsche 911 on the list of "Best Performance/Luxury Cars to Buy 2012": 1

Rank of the Toyota Prius on the list of "Best Green Cars to Buy 2012": 1

Source: High Gear Media.

In the last six months, percentage of Americans who have researched potential purchases on their smartphones or other mobile devices at least once, according to a study by the National Cyber Security Alliance and McAfee: 50

Percentage who have shopped: 27

Percentage who have made online payments: 18

Percentage who have purchased goods from auction sites: 12

Source: National Cyber Security Alliance.

Idle Thought

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set." -- Lin Yutang, writer and translator (1895-1976)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)