I'm ready to begin covering the holiday season Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Ramadan) but there are just too many outstanding sites for one person to visit even though I spend nearly every minute of the day trying!). So I'm asking for your help to "Light Up the Sites."

Send an e-mail or postal letter with your favorite holiday Web site, along with a brief explanation 50 words or less) explaining why you like it best. I'll include all submitted sites in the Dec. 23 Site Seeing column. And, as a bonus, the page that's judged the best overall theme, design, content and ease of navigation) will win a special holiday prize for the person who submits it.

Entries must be received by midnight on Dec. 18 to be considered. Send e-mails to SiteSeer2K@aol.com subject: Light Up the Sites Contest). Snail mail postal letters) should be sent to Light Up the Sites Contest, Cincinnati Post Living, 125 E. Court St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

That said, here's my annual Advent calendar kickoff column. Remember, you're not supposed to peek ahead.

•  http://acweb.colum.edu/users/agunkel/homepage/xmasweb/adventcal.html. This is one of the best Advent calendars for capturing the true meaning of the days ahead. Each day offers artwork, a holiday song, an Advent prayer and a festive link.

•  www.nettiradio.fi/test/santa/eng/calendar.html. Ho, ho, hold on a minute! Hear greetings from Santa Claus all the way from "Ear Fell" Mount Korvatunturi) in Finnish Lapland via Radio Santa. Count down the days with the man in red and listen as he passes along messages for children of all ages. If you don't have a sound card, the text is posted for you to read, but consider downloading one of the free players; it's more fun when Santa speaks.

•  www.cookierecipe.com/cat/christmas.asp. The All Recipes site has a different version of the Advent calendar. Their tree is nearly bare today with only the first ornament hung. But click on it to discover today's holiday cookie recipe. By the time Christmas rolls around, you should be rolling in dough -- the cookie kind, that is.

•  www.hdw-inc.com/advent.htm. This one's for bengal lovers. That's bengal with a little b.)

•  www.bahnhof.se/~vette. This is an adorable story from Sweden. Find out what happens when Mr. Vette discovers all the words have disappeared from The Book of Christmas. Join him on an adventure to rediscover the ABCs of the season.

•  www.electricdecember.org. Treat yourself to the tricks of the Internet trade by viewing the offerings at Electric December. Based on the Advent calendar concept, this site showcases a new Web design technique daily. And in case this reeks of geek, I promise last year's were a hoot. Although you can't start the 2002 countdown until Sunday, you can still view last year's to see what I mean.

•  http://jojofalk.se/x-mas. Here's a delightful one from Nami Yoshida Japan) and Jojo Falk Sweden). Each day brings up a new drawing with surprises on some. And for Mac users, there are some cool downloads as well.

•  www.castlearcana.com/christmas

•  www.rooneydesign.com/advntcal.html: This is the third or maybe even fourth year I've included these two. If you haven't already seen them, they are just too cute to miss.

Jan Perry is a Kentucky writer with a passion for the possibilities of the Internet. Don't forget to help her "Light Up the Sites" at SiteSeer2K@aol.com.