We had a very productive weekend, in terms of holiday prep. It makes me feel like my to-do list is complete… but… I am sure there are still items yet to do. Let’s do a little check in:
Complete:
- I have a beautiful wreath on my front door, courtesy of my mother. It smells so Christmassy and festive.
- My holiday cards are in the mail, except for three that require address updates.
- I have still only received six cards, so I haven’t yet begun taping them to the wall as is my typical manner of displaying them.
- Nearly all the presents are done – including all of Carla’s beautiful drinkware – and I have boxes for my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and my aunt-in-law all packed with wrapped gifts and ready to go to the post office.
- As of yesterday, the Christmas tree is UP. It looks so lovely and warm, with all the golden lights.
- Carla and I have finished The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and I think she liked it more this time, and the end – where Imogene cries and cries, so gobsmacked is she by the miracle of Christmas – still makes choke up. We have just started The Naughty List by Michael Fry, which is so far fun to read.
- My Winter Break To-Do list is still 75% baking projects. We have added these chai sugar cookies to the list, courtesy of my husband.
- I attended and survived my husband’s office party.
- Carla and I went through all her holiday-themed picture books and made two piles: books to keep for sentimental reasons and books we could give to our next-door neighbor, for her granddaughter.
Still to do:
- In terms of presents: I am waiting on a gift for my mother-in-law, one for my niece, and one for my father-in-law. The one for my mother-in-law got stuck at the post office some time last week, and the manufacturer agreed that it is probably lost and has sent us a new one. The gift for my niece arrived in a box that had clearly been opened. After MUCH back-and-forth with the company, we determined that all the parts are in the box and they are sending me a replacement box, which is kind of ridiculous… and they also can’t give me a timeframe to expect the box, so I am vacillating between just sending the broken box to my niece or sending a picture of it in the box of other gifts for her and my sister-in-law or just continuing to vacillate until there is no time to ship anything to her at all. My husband discovered yesterday that a gift we chose for his dad is not appropriate, so we ordered a replacement; I’m pretty sure it arrived already, but the box has my husband’s name on it so I can’t open it.
- My husband and I are still trying to figure out if Carla needs one more present or not. He thinks the alarm clock I want to get her is “not a present,” but I am all for practicality. The other idea I had was an adjustable bar stool for her craft area. So far we haven’t made ANY decisions, and time is ticking away.
- I usually buy pine boughs to put on the mantel. I love the way they look and smell… but maybe I am okay without them this year?
- Only three of my husband’s gifts are wrapped (and he wrapped one of them; we are giving each other new Apple watches this year, so he wrapped them both at the same time), and I haven’t wrapped any of Carla’s gifts or done any of the Santa wrapping. In part because Santa chooses TERRIBLE wrapping that is very difficult to fit around boxes and which lasts forever because he uses it for only a handful of gifts. So I need to do some more wrapping.
- I need to figure out what to get for Carla’s activity instructors. Ugh. There are so many of them this year. And what to get for our housekeeper and my husband’s assistant???
- I need to clean the menorah. Although maybe I cleaned it after Hanukkah last year, and I won’t need to clean it? I can’t remember. It would be so easy to check and yet I continue playing Schrödinger’s menorah instead.
- I am trying to figure out if I should send a gift to my friend. We don’t normally exchange gifts, but sometimes we send things to one another out of the blue. I saw a T-shirt the other day that reminded me of her but I didn’t buy it. I really want to buy it, and send it to her… but also I don’t want to overstep or seem like I am forcing her to acknowledge me in some way. (She sent me an ornament the other year, and we put it on the tree yesterday and my heart is just so swollen and painful.) Ugh ugh ugh.
- I want to listen to more Christmas music. There is so much of the same, when I play it on Alexa or on the TV. Perhaps I need to try making a Spotify list? I don’t really know how to use Spotify?
- There is still nothing really fun or special or holiday-specific on our list (aside from cookie making). What else can we do during the long days of Carla’s winter break?
- I need to cajole Carla into making the final two mugs for the final two mug-recipients (our across-the-street neighbors, who have been kindly letting her play with their puppy for months).
- Carla and I need to take presents and books next door to our neighbor.
- I need to take the packed boxes to the post office and mail them.
I suppose, since it is Monday, that I should be thinking about dinners. And yet I am not? Even though we all need to eat, daily. We have plenty of leftover soup in the fridge, along with a TON of leftover ragu (it was really good), so that should tide us over for a few days. Plus I never made the slow cooker garlic chicken from a couple of weeks ago, so that’s still an option. Or I could make burritos. I think we’re covered. It’s a call week, so I like to be less structured as it is.
So far, I can report that I am feeling much more full of the Holiday Spirit than I did last year. It’s a relief, honestly. I like enjoying the holidays. And even though I wish we had snow, I am really pleased to be able to walk around outside. (I really need to find some snow boots that are good for walking.) I feel, overall, happy and on top of things. My only real “problem” (not a problem) is that I keep thinking of little things I want to get my husband and/or Carla, and then thinking, “but I already got them plenty of things…” and then thinking, “or did I???” But that’s not unpleasant, and hasn’t (yet) reached the level of pre-Christmas panic. I think we’re in pretty good shape!
What do you still have yet to do on your holiday list? What am I missing? Surely I’m missing something important.
I still have to wrap and send the mailing presents and that is a huge job that I haven’t even started. I’m not even sure if I HAVE everything I need to send them.
I haven’t touched holiday cards yet either. They are sitting in a box on my table of to dos.
You’re in great shape for Christmas! We’re decent-ish. Tree up, gifts en route. I don’t like to bake things too far in advance so I won’t start on that until the week of. I have a few standards that I make every year (chocolate chip cookie bars and oreo balls on repeat) plus small batches of more experimental/seasonal things.
You seem to have things well under control. Wow – what a productive and festive weekend, indeed.
I had to laugh about the alarm clock – one year that was literally the only present I asked for at Christmas (I was 7 or 8)?
Buy the shirt for the friend. It lets her know you are thinking of her. Then ball is in her court as to how she responds.
You are WAY ahead of me. I’m not doing cards this year, so that’s one less thing to worry about. I’m still waiting for some packages to arrive before I can think about sending my mother in law’s package; which really needs to leave this house no later than Friday. Not one single thing has been wrapped and there are still gifts to buy. *sigh*
BUT I’m officially on vacation so I am hoping to get lots of things done and out of the way starting tomorrow.
You’ve done so much! I’m impressed with your organization. Everything looks festive and beautiful. I wrapped the few gifts I have for my grandsons and need to work with my daughters on Xmas Eve dinner. I’m hoping that everyone stays healthy so we can get together, unlike Thanksgiving.
Your tree is beautiful! And you have been so busy and productive. I think an alarm clock is a great gift. I love practical gifts like that. I remember getting a watch AND an alarm clock when I was a kid and it was amazing. Wow, that probably says something about me.
I’m sorry about your friend. That is such a hard and sad situation.
This week is gingerbread people for me, plus more wrapping. I have some done but not all, and it is the job that is the most tedious for me.
I put up cards around a door frame, and so far we are at three cards, which is fairly sparse—but I know most years we end up going all the way around the door and sometimes even starting a second layer, so I am taking heart. Long ago I read a statistic put out by the USPS that said more cards are mailed on December 14th than any other day, and more cards are received on December 17th than any other day. And I have not finished sending MY cards yet.
An alarm clock is definitely a gift! Edward is getting one this year, which he asked for!
For activity instructors I like to do a coffee shop gift card (somehow a $10 coffee shop gift card feels like more than a $10 Target gift card—though I also sometimes do Target gift cards because I get myself all agitated about what if they don’t like/drink coffee) tied with a festive ribbon to a large candy bar. For the housekeeper, when we had housekeepers, I went with the amount of money we usually pay them (as in, in addition to the usual payment), plus a large candy bar and a little bottle of fancy hand lotion each.
I have done ZERO gift-wrapping, but I feel okay about that. I generally enjoy wrapping presents with a little something festive to sip on, so I will finish the cards first and then clear that away and start on the wrapping paper.
This year I did a fair amount of mailing things directly, even though I normally prefer to wrap them and send them in a festive manner with little treats—but this year it all seemed Too Overwhelming, so I took my parents up on their offer to have things for each parent shipped to the other parent for wrapping, and they are doing the same with gifts for us.
I still have some shopping to do, and I’m trying not to panic as things keep slipping into the “This item will arrive after Christmas” zone. It’s the “there is still plenty of food in the store” issue: there are still plenty of gifts, even if I can’t get the very one I wanted from the very store I had in mind.
We addressed and mailed the cards over the weekend (except for a few problem children) and we have a tree (stashed in the garage– it will travel with us) and the living room and yard are decorated. I am almost finished buying gifts, but I haven’t wrapped anything. We bake at the cabin, but I want to make gingerbread dough and maybe some other cookie dough to take with us, as it’s easier than transporting all the ingredients.
I still have to address and stamp my Christmas cards (and buy the stamps), but at least I have the cards in my possession. But I had to do funeral thank-you cards first, and those are done. Whew. Santa still has quite a bit of wrapping to do, but usually I leave all of that until the one or 2 days before, so I feel good there. I’m waiting on some gifts to arrive, still, and worried about the LL Bean shipment about which I’ve heard NOTHING from them. Eek. And I need to package up the gifts for my parents and send them (I use UPS usually). I’m hoping to do that next week. This week I am in the office every. day. which seems like a crime, AND I have to drag Shawn with me to the boss’ house for a first-ever Christmas party tonight, and I’m d r e a d i n g it. Trying to positive myself out of that, but so far it’s not working.
I want to do some baking, too, but that’s really going to have to wait until the week of. As is planning the Christmas meals.
For activity instructors, I do a mug with 3 cookies inside (“A handful of cookies for handling my handful of a child”)… It’s a little cheesy, but it’s easy to get done and just grab one on the way to each thing.
Wrapping and sending gifts has not happened yet and I’m starting to freak out that my gifts that need to be shipped will not arrive on time. I’m definitely making a note to myself for next year that shopping must be done by November 15 so I’m not freaking out about shipping next year. Argh.
You’re in much better shape than I am, so congrats on that!
I’m going to mail gifts today to out of town recipients.
I have some shopping to do for a homeless woman, a local church collects gifts, and I was given her name. Waiting for payday for that one.
I have a few stocking stuffers to buy, and want to get one or two more items for my daughter. A book for the first night of Hanukkah, and not sure about the other.
I found some very soft socks the other day, thinking I might go back and get some for stockings. Am I the only person who fills her own stocking? My husband has never really cared about them, so if I don’t put something in there, I won’t get anything. The good part of that is that I get exactly what I want. HA!
I want to buy something for my dog. He’s spoiled.
Here I was thinking I’m finished, but looking at this, I can see that I am not. Oh well. Once the holiday cards and packages are in the mail, the local stuff is MUCH easier. 🙂
I am waffling on presents this year. Like, do my nephews and niece need more things? Will they even notice my present? (they will if it’s a horsie!). But how can I be a Rich Auntie Supreme is I don’t give gifts?!
There are three support staff that I work with the most whom I want to get gifts for. I contributed to the common pool of money for support staff gifts, but I want to get these three people an additional something. I’m thinking a nice bottle of sparkling wine/champagne for New Year’s as an actual present rather than adding to the gift card pile. IDK.
You have been busy. So organized. I did a burst of shopping for my kids/Coach, but I made myself stop because no one needs clothes. Half the kids are getting flights, so I need to stick to that. It’s Curly’s bday Monday and I hope she remembers that I got her a sweatshirt that she wanted and she agreed it would be for her b-day.
My cards went out yesterday and today I did the few that needed a new address, etc. That’s a huge accomplishment and this is much earlier than usual for me. Still, there is much to do. I’ve torn apart the study and the dining room to prepare for our 33 people Christmas for my side party. The trick is finding a spot for the last piles of junk that i don’t want to deal with, especially where there are more pressing things happening.
I made a huge thing of one pot spaghetti for them a few days ago and I have nothing left in my reserves to whip up for now.
I think you’re in good shape. You do have a few more important things to do, but you have ten more days. I still have a lot of wrapping to do (I think I know what you mean about that Santa wrapping paper.)
I will say one thing- when I look back on Christmases, I’ve sometimes regretted that I didn’t get someone a present, or felt that I didn’t get the kids enough- but I’ve never regretted giving too many presents. So (IMO) if there’s any question of “should I get this for so-and-so?” the answer should be yes.
It sounds like you have everything under control and got a lot done… it’s all about getting started, amirite? And then it all works itself out, more or less 😉
I was very behind but got a lot done this last week. The biggest part was finishing the photobook that I wanted to give my parents for Christmas and the deadline to order it was 12/12. I got that done and then also started tackling the gift list (I think I have one or two things left).
I wish I had more wrapping to do. I order most of my gifts online because sending to Germany is so expensive. But I really enjoy wrapping or making a nice package for people Sigh.
Your tree and mantle are lovely! I’m so happy you attended the holiday party with your honey; you survived!
I’ve yet to bake a thing. The same goes for wrapping. I am listening to Christmas music and anxiously awaiting my Christmas cards from Shutterfly; they’ve changed my arrival date four times.
I’ve been trying to wrap at least 3 presents a day because I hate when I have a whole slew of presents sitting on a shelf in my closet, just waiting to be wrapped. That happened to me last year and it drove my crazy to see my disorganized closet and to know how much wrapping I had to do. This way feels much more manageable!
I am on year 3 with one set of wrapping paper and year 2 with another. I don’t need to wrap a TON of gifts, so a large roll of wrapping paper lasts me so long! It’s kinda boring because I always want to buy new wrapping paper every year, but I’m soldiering on. I did buy a small roll of different wrapping paper this year to mix things up a bit, so that’s making things feel a little more cheery!