Our question to answer this week is as the holidays begin rolling in, what do you do to prepare your house, yourself and your family for the hectic days ahead?
The holidays used to be so exciting for me. Pulling Christmas items from storage and setting them about the house, transforming the summer house to the Holiday House and creating a whole new atmosphere. But since I’ve been writing, it seems I only do the bare minimum because time doesn’t permit much more.
This year I hope to rectify that and make the time to create the Christmas House once again.
So, right after Thanksgiving, I’ll begin pulling out all of the packed away Christmas ornaments and decorations. I have several trees to put up, a 12 foot tree in the living room, this one takes a full day or two to decorate. Then I have a tree in our bedroom, in the foyer and in each of the guest bedrooms upstairs.
My bestie and I have been doing a cookie bake for many years and this year sounds like it will be the largest ever as our children are married and their spouses are now participating. That’s on December 15th this year and we’ll be baking the whole day and bringing home tons of fresh baked goodness to share with our families and friends.
Then, I tend to wrap all of the presents at the same time, selecting a night or two to get my creative juices flowing. In the past I’ve coordinated the wrapping paper so everything looks the same or color coordinated and all of the gift tags have a similar theme. I haven’t decided on this year’s theme yet.
From there, that just leaves coordinating everyone’s schedules and planning meals. Christmas eve is always with my in-laws and we have simple finger foods (no utensils needed) after church. Then we open gifts and enjoy a glass of wine or two.
Christmas Day is with my family and over the years it amounts to who ever can make it, stop in and we open our gifts with the grandchildren around noon, just after we eat dinner. It’s a fun time in our house and I always look forward to it with much excitement.
What do you do to prepare for the holidays? Let’s share.
I really should pull out my old recipes and do some baking this year.
Yeah, we’re always looking for something new and fun to make, but there is something about those old standards that is comforting.
I do pies and rolls for Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes I manage cinnamon rolls or scones for the holiday mornings. But I try to keep everything else pretty casual. This year Brad is giving me slip covers for our still serviceable couch and love seat that have always been a pain to clean of dog fur. I told him in the summer that I wanted it and I’m thinking that’s what wrapped up. I already have his gift. Kernan’s and my brother and sister-in-law’s are in route. Our daughter is traveling and has no use for extraneous possession in her current lifestyle, so I am dedicating my next book to her (she is the physical model for Ryanna in Daermad Cycle). When I told her that, she started to cry, so I think I hit the mark on that one.
The one thing I really wanted to finish before the holidays this year was putting the laminate floor into the living room, but Brad moved a bookcase into the living room last weekend and loaded it with books, so I’m not going to fight it until after Christmas. I try not to expect too much and that makes the holidays a lot less stressful for all of us.
Wow, sounds like you’re ready to go. Good for you. I’ve started shopping, but have more to do. The cookie bake takes care of the sweets and we manage dinners just fine. It’s the decorating that is laborious, but we’ll get it.