Next Year Will Be Different

This post was supposed to be posted last week...oops! 

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you enjoyed the holiday and were able to spend it with family and friends.  I'm always so amazed by how quickly it goes by...much faster as an adult than it ever did as a child.  Perhaps because now I'm the one preparing everything!  We had a lovely time together!  All (minus one) sibling of Remodel Man's was in town for the Christmas Eve celebration and it is good to be together.  It's  always a party when all the sibling are home!  We surprised his parents with a new flat screen, HDTV.  I thought they were going to have heart attacks-perhaps at their age we should have prepared them???  Christmas Day we spent with my family.  My mother always makes an excellent dinner!  My parents spoiled all of us ridiculously and I won't lie that it felt very nice!  I bought a lot of the gifts for my mom to give all of us, but she surprised me with some other items that were awesome!  I love that!  My boys also spoiled me.  My fav gift?  My new Lisa Leonard necklace!  Heidi has had me obsessing over one for a long time now, so I'm so glad to finally feed my obsession!!  I'll update with pictures later.

But as the holidays fades into the past, it is the time of year that we all begin thinking about the future.  Blog posts will saturate blogosphere with resolutions and reflections.  My reflecting started a while back.  As I saw the Christmas stress spiralling out of control ending up in a breakdown theTuesday before Christmas where I could not (and I literally could not) get off of the couch, I knew that things had to change.  So I vow, next year will be different, for Christmas at least, and it's going to start now.  I've had most of my shopping done since August (yep, I'm that person!).  I shop August toy clearances so that I can get the kids I buy for more expensive toys without breaking the bank. Yet, there I was wrapping the presents as we were leaving for the presents' destination.  There I was racing to the post office to spend a fortune on priority mail so that all presents reached their new homes before Santa came down the chimney.  There I was, Christmas eve night, realizing I didn't have enough presents for my sister.  Argh!  So next year, I vow to be better organized with presents: 

1. I will keep a running log of what I buy, how much it was, etc. I have done this in the past and it worked beautifully.
2. I will wrap starting in October.  I have the wrapping paper, I might as well get the darn things wrapped up. 
3. I will buy less...while this is a topic for a future post, I will be crossing people off of my Christmas list for next year...not out of spite, but out of practicality. 

While I really did put less pressure on myself this year to have a Martha Stewart-type holiday, still I felt the typical holiday pressure...so here are a few more vows I am taking for next holiday:

1. I will bring up the decoration boxes before Thanksgiving.  Since I usually work 30+ hours the weekend after Thanksgiving (at one of the part-time jobs), it's not feasible to start decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving.  So, boxes up before Turkey day, then I can slowly, night by night, put up decorations instead of frantically trying to do it in one day. 
2. I will bake and freeze early.  So many cookies are easily frozen at some stage of baking or another so why am I not doing that??  Some of those early fall days when the air is crisp is a perfect time to whip up a batch of Christmas cookies.
3. I will either hand-make my Christmas cards again -or- start gathering pictures earlier.  Ordering cards from a mail-service place two weeks before Christmas is a little stressful.
4. I will not lose my address book in November...mind you, first I need to find the address book again, but when I do, I will not lose it.  I had to wait until people emailed me back their addresses in order to send cards...
5. I will start playing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving.  Yes, I know we rush each holiday season, but Thanksgiving is a man-made holiday-Christmas is God-made.  I'm thinking it's okay if I revel in carols even before we celebrate those pilgrims!  (And is there ever a time to be more thankful than Jesus' birthday?)
6. I will incorporate more service into the holiday season, specifically with Builder Boy. 
7. I will buy an Advent wreath and use it.  (Seriously can't believe I don't own one!)

I'm sure there are plenty of other additions to my list.  I'm sure I will still find myself frenzied next holiday even after doing all of the above, but I think these will definitely help with the stress.

Oh, and #8 on my list of things to do next year is actually something NOT to do...I would really like to NOT have PMS next year the week before Christmas OR get my period a week early, on the day after Christmas. 

New Year's post to follow shortly.  I'm a little behind on things.  What a way to start the year! ;)

Comments

[Heidi]

I love that you're thinking about Christmas already. It's a good idea to think about it when it's fresh to plan for next year. I should do that. I'm SO with you on the wrapping - I'm always wrapping at the last minute. So stressful!

[Heidi]

Oh - and which necklace did you get? I'm dying to know!

[Renovation Girl]

@Heidi-I got the Brave Love necklace and LOVE it. Can't wait to buy my next one! ;)

[Grace]

I hear you---no woman should have to deal with her period around Christmas. It should be a rule.