Christmas is coming...Holy Crap!

 As much as I love this time of year, it tends to sneak up on me. Since Thanksgiving was so late in the month, I was already behind schedule before I even got started making a schedule. First I want to decorate the house which means I have to actually clean the house. Decorating is more of a chore each year, but it is my own fault. By the end of the season each year, I am so sick of Christmas decorations that I do not take the time to organize and put things away so that the next year will be an easy task. I rip everything down and stuff it back in it's box and put it in the garage knowing that I will take the time to get organized next year!! Yeah right!
I want to pick out a live Christmas tree, but I can't do that too early. I want to wait for the kids to get home from their respective far away lands of learning. I mentioned this year that I might get an artificial  tree and have everything done by the time they actually get home. We took a family vote on that and I lost!!
Today I am tackling some outside Christmas lighting which basically means untangling the strings of lights and throwing them over a few bushes. I would love to put some candles, electric of course, in the front windows with a spray of greenery and a red ribbon. Well, that means I have to wash the windows so that my candles don't look like fog lights. I also have a lighted reindeer that I am very proud of because he was an after Christmas bargain one year. He is something I would never have paid the $150.00 asking price for, but after Christmas, in a damaged box, only one left, not sure if he worked, I got him for $20.00. I even checked to make sure he worked before I actually left the store and sure enough he did. He is very heavy and comes in two pieces and as long as I use the EZ-Up stakes on his feet he doesn't fall over on his antlers...very often.

Then there will be the holiday baking. My son is always ready to help bake cookies, right up until the first tray of hot gooey cookies is out of the oven. Then, the thrill is over, the tummy is full and the craving for cookies has been satisfied, so he's basically done. I will be finishing the final 500 cookies that we agreed to bake this year. I made Baklava one year (ambitious aren't I?) and swore I would never do it again.  I try to forget that crazy delicacy even exists, but someone always asks for it and I cave, and then I swear I am never going to do it again.

This year we have started a new tradition. One gift per person. Usually it looks like the Rockefellers live at my house and there is barely enough room in the living area for all the presents. We thought we would keep it simple this year and try to get back to basics and the true meaning of Christmas. Since the kids are away at school, it really is going to be the best time of year when we can all be together so we thought we would capitalize on that. I, for one, love nothing more than sipping hot cocoa in front of a fire while watching sappy Christmas movies. We also tend to eat a lot and we like to play games and go for walks and look at all the pretty Christmas lights in the neighborhood. That is what I love about Christmas time.

Back to this one gift thing...I thought I was making it simple but I have actually made it more difficult. There are lots of things that I could think of to get my loved ones, but not particularly for that one special gift. Of course hubby and the kids all need socks, but not as their one special gift. I found a little lighthouse thingy for Mom, but not as her one special gift. So, I must put my thinking cap on real tight this year and figure out what that one special gift is for everyone.

In the meantime, I placed the little Christmas tree countdown widget in my right sidebar in hopes of keeping me focused. Instead of helping me stay focused, it is causing much anxiety. There are only 19 days until Christmas. Do you think I could file for an extension?

I hope Santa leaves some Prozac in my stocking because I think I am going to need it.

Comments

[WebbieGurl]

Oh Boy! You are very congenial in this post. This is my first time to visit your blog here and you got me hooked! Your piece of writing rocks and you made my day!

This post is full of ideas and i love the part where you need to clean the windows! Seriously witty stuf i must say.

By the way, if this is the kind of blog you have that got deleted that you have mentioned, I wonder why... As for the links, I have never heard of a case yet that a blog got deleted in Entrecard (EC) for having bad links? Hmmm.. you made me think...