Gearing up for the holidays

I think I'd better not leave my blog on the sour note of the last post for too long. The kids survived me "losing it" with them and I got over it too. I'm sure it will happen again, but for now things are good.

Last Saturday and Sunday Jeff's parents took the three older boys so we could do some Christmas shopping without them. It was wonderful! If Grandma and Grandpa are agreeable, I could make this a December tradition. :-) The boys had tons of fun, even if they did miss most of Saturday morning cartoons. (Which was fine with me--they aren't what they used to be.) Grandma had crafts for them to make and they got to go sledding and out for pizza and to see some Christmas lights. We got a lot done--it almost made shopping bearable for me. We got stuck in IKEA for a couple hours--that is quite the store--but escaped eventually and actually bought a few things to put under the tree. We're not done, but putting a big dent in it all at once and having Jeff there to help make decisions was really nice. We also got to go to the Saturday night and Sunday sessions of stake conference with only one kid--that is almost heaven!

Early this week I sat down and wrote out everything I could think of that I need or want to do in December. (A few things were put off to the January list, thank goodness.) I just knew I wouldn't make it through the month with my sanity intact if I didn't get myself organized. I made sure I put some service things on there, because it's the season of giving after all, and I've been feeling the need to make sure I'm not just focusing on me and mine. After I wrote down everything, I divided up all the tasks into which week in December I am going to try to get them done--1, 2, 3, or 4. Now I'm slowly plowing my way through the Week 1 tasks. Well, I have been anyway--blogging is not officially on the list. Call me neurotic, but it's the way I function. Does anyone else have to do things like this to survive? No, I don't usually finish everything on the list, and I do plenty of things that never get on the list (unless I add them after the fact, which I've been known to do, just so I can cross them off :-), but the list at least gives me the illusion that I have a handle on it all.

Even though I roll my eyes when stores start putting out Christmas stuff the day after Halloween, it occurred to me today that I would be better off if I too started preparing for Christmas that early, at least mentally. I know, a little late for this year. It's not like I let it sneak up on me. I had good intentions of getting my Christmas cards mailed before the end of November, for instance. But somehow it always gets away from me and I find myself feeling unprepared and rushed, just when I want to be savoring the joys of the season and focusing on the spiritual importance of what it's all about. It doesn't help that our anniversary and three of our four kids birthdays are between Halloween and Christmas too. But then it could be argued that we did that to ourselves. Oh well. It all makes for a very busy and very happy time of year. And if you don't get a Christmas letter from us until Valentine's Day, you'll know why.