2015 Christmas Countdown - End of Weeks Three and Four - Gifts and Giving and Get Cooking

I'm dreadfully behind as usual so I'm going to whiz through this and look forward to next Christmas when I'll have lots of time on my hands to give the countdown the proper attention it deserves.

Time to catch up on Week Three - Gifts and Giving

Day 16 - Renegotiate Gift Exchanges - Not really a problem for me since my friends and spouse groups are pretty budget-conscious, however, if you end up participating in too many exchanges, that can be a problem. As Nancy Reagan said, "Just Say No".

Day 17 - Shop Online and Catalogs - Online shopping is the way to go for most of my list - can we say Amazon.com? We all have Wish Lists going through the year, sort of a personal filing system of things that catch our eye, to be stored away until something else comes along. Sophia seems to change her list weekly - you can always tell her mood - fashion, pet-centered, horse-centered, in a "things for my apartment" mood. The deadline for closed Wish Lists is approaching. No more changes after the Sunday before Cyber Monday.

Day 18 -  Set up a Wrap and Mail Center - Done! A long craft table worked perfectly with all the supplies close at hand.

Day 19 - Simplify Handmade Gifts - Eh, handmade is not happening this year. I can't count the number of UFOs (Un-Finished Objects, if you haven't clicked on the link) in my craft cupboard...far too many to admit here. Next year, maybe.

Day 20 - Status Check - Not doing too bad at all. Most presents purchased and wrapped, the remaining are on standby in a shopping cart, waiting to see if there is a better deal on Black Friday. Card dilemma still ongoing although I did slash the mailing list from 80+ to about 30. Food for Thanksgiving purchased, menu planned, decorating plans in place, things are going pretty well.

Day 21 - Give...to Make a Difference - Our giving has centered around the local projects that the Navy Wives Clubs of America's local chapter supports - refreshments for a holiday party at the Infant Development Program Center, gifts for two boys from an Adopt a Family project, needed items for the Youth Detention Center, and of course, Wreaths Across America. We have some plans for another event...not finalized yet so I'll hold on to that one until it's firm. I know that most of us are asked to give and give and give and wouldn't we like to be able to do it all? It's tough to decide which causes to support...whatever you can do will help someone in someway so don't feel badly that you have to draw the line somewhere.

Day 22 - Get Cooking Week - Until yesterday, it was cooking for a party of one - me. Soup and sandwich or a quick takeaway, that was it. Now that Vic is home and Sophia will be here soon, it's time for menus, planning, and eating around the table. Commence marathon grocery shop!

Day 23 - Plan Holiday Meals - Does planning them in my head count? Ok, ok, I'll write them down!

Day 24 - Inventory the Pantry - Did that before I went shopping.

Day 25 - Clean Out the Freezer - Did that too. 2 for 2 here.

Day 26 - Clean Out the Refrigerator - Done!

Day 27 - Plan Holiday Baking - It's called the local bakery. I will make a loaf of pumpkin bread though.

Day 28 - Create a Baking Specialty - Uh, pumpkin bread?

Day 29 - Decorate Week - Here we go, drag out the Rubbermaids! Let decorating commence.

How's your countdown going?

2015 Christmas Countdown - End of Week Two - Reality Check Week

Posting every day got lost somewhere around Day 12 so I think it might be better if I switch to a weekly recap. If you want to follow daily, you can head over to Christmas Countdown and select a notification method for the daily messages.

Meanwhile, Reality Check Week:

Day 12 - Magazine Reality Check - This one is pretty funny and they are so right - those glossy covers and photo-filled pages are so tempting. Yes, you can do it all, make it all, bake it all, have it all...uh, no, you can't. I limit my Christmas magazine shopping - Sandra Lee's Christmas special issue, BBC Good Food Christmas issue, and the Delicious Christmas issue. The pages of the last two don't hold anything I will bake or make; they just have Christmas in England on every page and since 99.9% of the items are unobtainable (here), it's just a magazine for dreaming. I pick them up before Christmas, put them under the tree, and don't look at them until Christmas Day.

Day 13 - Holiday Wardrobe Check - DONE! I have a black and silver dress and new black heels, not that we're going anywhere this year. Vic has his pants, shirt, burgundy or red cashmere sweater (he really resists the red so I bought the burgundy as a "close to red, but not quite" option), and a tie that goes with either one. As I said, not that we'll need them since Vic has duty on Christmas Eve. I have a feeling our Christmas wardrobe will consist of our matching red plaid flannel pajama pants and red shirts - sorry, Vic, you're just not getting away from the red this year!

Day 14 - Decor Declutter - Not much to do on this one but the checking the calendar and inventorying the supplies is a good one. I'm still having the "send cards, don't send cards" dilemma.

Day 15 - Here we go with Gifts and Giving Week - I'll have a recap for you next weekend.

Christmas Countdown - Day Eleven

Day 11 - Holiday Housework Plan - well, this is going to be a fail but at least I'm honest! I'm trying to keep up but work (getting up, getting there, being there, and getting home) takes up 4:00am to 5:00pm daily plus seven hours of sleep leaves four hours a day and I'm not in the mood to spend it cleaning. I've divvied up the chores so that a half an hour swish and swipe and put things away keeps the clutter at bay but that's it for now. I'm waiting until my next day off to do a thorough job that will hopefully last for a few months. The only good thing about my brutal schedule is that I'm not home to make a mess!

2015 Christmas Countdown - Day Ten

Day 10 - Schedule Self-Care for Healthy Holidays is definitely something I am going to embrace this year. I've trimmed the schedule, cut back on the indulgent foods that we have had in the past, and streamlined the decorating. I am going to enjoy the holidays knowing that there will be less stress financially, mentally, and physically. We'll see what my family thinks when we de-brief in January. I'm not saying that the holidays are going to be bare bones, but with our work and school schedules this year, we need to pare things back so that we can focus on enjoying our time together without the hustle and bustle that we've been able to have in the past when I was home all day to take care of things. Who knows, we might prefer the streamlined version.

2015 Christmas Countdown - Day Nine

Day 9 - Set a holiday budget - DONE! Do you know the cost of Christmas? I was amazed when, a few years ago, I kept track of all of our Christmas expenses - gifts for family, gifts for others, decorations, party food, party clothes, gift exchanges, ornament exchanges, cards, postage, charitable giving, outings, events, activities...the list was endless. When I added it all up, it was an eye-opener. Only when you truly have a list of everything on which you could spend money, can you make a reasonable budget so you don't end up stretching your Christmas into January's bill-paying.

2015 Christmas Countdown - Week Two - Reality Check

Day 8 kicks off Reality Check Week - sorting out the holiday illusions that stand between us and the Christmas of our dreams. I am not doing too bad as I do not think that I have any illusions this year.

Today's tasks are good ones for November 1st (do not forget to say "White Rabbit") - home preparedness, start your cards, and work on that master shopping list. I am off to work on those tasks, now that I have an extra hour in which to do them!

2015 Christmas Countdown - End of Week One - Get Organized

Photo courtesy of Organized Christmas

Since I am putting up this post at the end of the first week, obviously my plan to post daily went awry. I did manage to follow the Countdown, I just didn't manage to post about it. On to better plans for next week!

Week One of the Organized Home's Christmas Countdown is Get Organized Week. You can read all about it here and here is a quick summary of how my week went:

Day 1 - Get Organized

The Countdown really crept up on me this year. The "Let's Get Ready" message popped into my e-mail and I knew it was crunch time. However, I took a deep breath and resolved to make the promise (Step One) and decide to follow the Countdown (Step Two) via the daily e-mail messages, Designating a Christmas holiday planning center in my home (Step Three) was a little more slapdash as in it's, uh, kinda sorta over there (points vaguely in the direction of the office). I'm working on that one. Printing the Countdown Calendar and Get Organized Week Checklist was easy - I actually had the checklist already in my planner (the Christmas Planner, not to be confused with the other planner that is currently ruling my life) from last year.

Day 2 - Make a Christmas Planner

Done! Actually, already done is a better way to put that since I use the same binder year after year. I just add new planning pages. Planner cover and divider pages are in place - I'm ready to plan.

Day 3 - Set Up a Holiday Calendar

I'm working on it. So far I have my days off work, Vic's days off work, Sophia's arrival and departure, key shopping dates, holiday events and activities, and miscellaneous deadlines. It is a work in progress as no doubt things will crop up that have to be squeezed in. The goal this year is to have the holidays less chaotic than last year. Pretty easily done since I'm working now and can say, "Sorry, we can't make it, have to work!".

Day 4 - Values Check

Less chaos = less stress = more fun. Oh, and stick to the budget. Nothing stresses Vic out more than to find out I have gone overbudget....again. I am vowing this year to stick to the budget.

Day 5 - Master Gift List

Again, a work in progress. Deadline for family Amazon.com wishlists is November 29; after that, online shopping will commence, packages will arrive, and wrapping will begin.

Day 6 - Christmas Cards

I have my Christmas Card List, just have to work a little more on pruning. With Social Media as the preferred option for many people, our mailbox has been less and less full as the years go by. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and cut some people off the list. I hate to do it, I love sending cards but it seems like not as many people are as interested in receiving one and reciprocating.

Day 7 - that's today! - Home Spruce Up

This one will not be a major chore as we've already decided to downsize this year. "Sorry....have to work" definitely comes into play here. We don't plan to do any entertaining at home  ("Sorry....") and we've decided to pare down the decorations and just focus more on the limited time that we have to spend together. It will be a game-playing, DVD-watching, book-reading kind of holiday, together.

I hope you are joining me, or will join me (sorry I'm starting you off a week late but you can catch up) but even if you are not, I know you will find something useful here - these printables are amazing.