Thank god XMas is over. And for me, I include the post-XMas Boxing Day Sale rush as part of that entire period. It starts early November, seriously picks-up mid-November; goes insane in December and then just becomes insane by Dec 20th. And then it's just busy after that.
By insane, I mean 4 to 5 times the normal sales each day compared to the rest of the year. I worked out that if we did the same amount of sales during the most hectic period all year round, we'd be able to afford (and need to!) to hire 4 to 5 people. Full-time.
Of course, it doesn't stay that way so I just work insane hours. My wife gets to see very little of me, and I when she does, I'm mostly working and grumpy. From working. And answering the same series of questions over and over again.
So, yay! New Year. Just another 10 months or so before it goes insane again.