THREE WEEKS ‘TIL CHRISTMAS:
Christmas is coming!! It is such an amazing time of year, and even if you don’t feel like you are prepared, you still have time. I personally have three different jobs that keep me busy, so I understand how life can get very hectic, and throw giant curve balls at you that mess up plans. I have been posting a similar blog in preparation for Christmas for more than 5 years, and find that I kind of peter out about the three week range, but that is not fair to those of you who have been following faithfully. This will be short and sweet!
Perfection is not necessary. I’ve been trying to decorate the house since Thanksgiving, and little bits and pieces are all that I’ve been able to get done. If my daughters hadn’t put up and decorated the tree, that still would not be done. Again – you still have lots of time to be ready in plenty of time without wearing yourself out. Don’t forget that Christmas is not about the decorations.
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So without further ado, here are my suggestions for this week. Don’t get stressed. You still have three FULL weeks.
1) Set your priorities and only do those things that YOU really want to do for Christmas.
2) Get enough sleep. (NOTE: when I wrote this, I stopped writing at this point for the night and headed off to bed)
3) Do a supply inventory – make sure you have plenty of staples and baking supplies.
4) Do a freezer inventory so you can see what you still need to purchase.
5) Get your online shopping done. Amazon still has a lot of heavily discounted items. Set aside a couple of hours this week to work on it. I have waited too long in previous years and things have gotten slowed down in shipping. One of us found out that the gift we wanted buy had suddenly gone viral and was not available at any of the big box stores.
6) Check your lists of gifts to buy, mark those off that you’ve purchased or have finished making.
7) Take some time for yourself and family. Play some board games. There are some fun new ones out this year. Watch a Christmas movie together – Amazon prime has some great ones to watch together, or drive the family out to look at Christmas lights and come home for a cup of cocoa. Don’t neglect the Lord. Read through the book of Luke this month – it tells a full account of the life of Christ, and don’t miss church.
8) Work on one space this week to clean and keep clean! I am working on my kitchen.
Have stuff to mail? Consider the flat rate priority boxes. You can pick them up at the post office without paying anything until you send them. This week we plan to make the fudge and the cookies we are sending out. The post office recommends mailing your packages by the 10th of December, but early next week is definitely not too late if mailing by USPS.
If you follow my blog, you’ll note that real life often gets in the way of wishful plans. Here are the previous blog posts that might be a help this week.
“Getting A Good Start,” “Nine Weeks Left,” “Eights Weeks to Go,”
“Week Seven Tips,” “Six Weeks to Go,” “Five Weeks to Go” and the one from last week “Four weeks -”
Marjie Briggs is a Consumer Scientist who loves Christmas. Her hints for “What to Buy and When” year round will help you save lots of money!