Putting Everything Away

If you're like me, you have piles of opened presents waiting to be put away. Before you incorporate the booty into your life, make a list of the presents that were exchanged this year, and who was on your Christmas list and why. Mention your Christmas menu and how you spent Christmas eve.

Once you have everything written down, mark the year and tuck it in an envelope (a recycled Christmas card envelope would be great) and put it in a spot that you will be revisiting next year. Many of you probably keep scrapbooks or journals, but this is a special reminder that you will secret into your ornament box, or in with your leftover wrapping paper. The goal is to stumble on it next year or the year after while your are doing your holiday preparations. It will be like a literary time capsule, reminding you of a Christmas past.

After a few years, your Christmas decorating will be sprinkled with memories as you see your lists peeking out from your special Christmas stores.

A Small Christmas Miracle - Having Enough Energy To Enjoy the Day

Are you exhausted before Christmas morning even arives? My last post was about making yeast rolls on Christmas morning, and after I wrote it - in good faith, mind you - I thought about all of the exhausted people who might read that post and want to hang me from the nearest Christmas tree.

Buy rolls, or just burn a cinnamon candle. The most important thing is to have enough energy to enjoy the day.

If you are short on stamina and starting to feel the burn, here are some last minute tips on salvaging your flagging emotional resources, to say nothing of your feet:

Take a hot bath. Beg, borrow, or steal a half hour to take a nice relaxing bath.

Read a chapter in a favorite book. This will calm you down and get you ready for the next round.

Take a ten-minute walk. Walking is invigorating, and the quiet time might remind you of something you've forgotten.

Ask for a neck rub. Tight muscles never helped anyone. Ask for an early gift, and have a loved one give you a five-minute neck massage.

Make Yeast Rolls for Christmas Morning

At my house, I make yeast rolls on Christmas morning. I use a bread maker to mix the dough while I'm sleeping, then prepare the rolls and finish them off in the oven. It's become a tradition, and although it can be time consuming, there's nothing like homemade baked goods to start the present opening ceremonies.

Romance Under the Christmas Lights

Once the children have gone to bed, indulge in a little Christmas nuzzling under the tree. Make a memory with your significant other.

When you're running around trying to get everything done, it's easy to forget to live in the moment. He probably won't remember the new tie, but a little romance under the tree will linger in his thoughts.

One year I inflated an air mattress, and my honey and I spent the evening under the tree watching a nice fire in the fireplace. The changing tree lights reflected around the room and made our glasses look like works of art. We played Christmas carols for a while and opened one present. Just one.

It's one of my favorite memories. Don't cheat yourself by ignoring the opportunity to make a great romantic memory this Christmas.

New Year's Resolutions

While you're sipping egg nog and looking at the scattered paper all over the floor, if your thoughts begin to stray to the new year and all of it's challenges, take a moment to look at these three articles that offer some solid advice about New Year's resolutions.

Easy Resolutions - Important things to remember to do in the New Year

A Few Important Resolutions that will make you healthier and more secure

Will power tips that will help you keep the New Year's resolutions you do make

Christmas Eve and Keeping Secrets

The surprise of Christmas morning (or Christmas Eve) is part of the fun of the holiday. So, keeping secrets and helping Santa do his job are important activities when it gets close to the 25th.

At our house, we always keep a few presents hidden. There are the "under the tree" gifts, and a couple of special ones that only come out of the closet or down from the basement at the last minute. This way there is no pre-Christmas inspection or shaking to spoil the surprise. Aside from the Christmas stockings, these are the most coveted gifts of our gift exchange.

My Christmas Wish to You: I wish you a merry and blessed Christmas. At this time of year I always get sentimental, and this year is no exception. I love the holidays, especially Christmas. The more Christmases I see, the more precious they become.

I hope this is a good Christmas at your house, and you get to talk with your loved ones (and hopefully hug them), and everyone gets safely back home.

Give Yourself a Gift for Christmas

In all the rush, don't forget to give yourself a gift for all your effort. No one makes the season brighter for your family than you do.

So remember yourself this year with a special treat. Pick bath salts and candles, then promise yourself a long, hot bath with a glass of wine, or treat yourself to a special pair of shoes or nightwear. Whatever you choose, make it your own private give to you.

Make this the year you remembered yourself in your gift giving
.

Christmas Countdown - Tying Up the Loose Ends

So, it isn't the twelve days to Christmas, but if you have a list, and you probably do, it's the "don't forget" count down to the big day.

Let me offer some last minute suggestions: Have you thought about all the batteries you'll need? There are so many types of batteries, large and small, you might not have what you need on hand. While you're at it, try getting re-chargeable batteries (with a charger). Chargers are smaller and less expensive than they used to be. Start now to do your part to save the environment.

How about checking to make sure you have USB cables for new printers (they're usually not included), extension cords, memory cards for cameras, surge protectors, and the correct wattage light bulbs to accompany your gifts. There are fewer things more frustrating than not being able to use a gift on Christmas because something's missing and the stores are closed.

Surviving the Holiday

How to survive the holiday madness.

Feeling Blue Around the Holidays

If you are feeling blue round the holidays, you are in good company. Not many of us are living in a Hallmark special presentation movie. Sometimes the prospect of the holidays is overwhelming, and personally, the older I get the more bittersweet they seem.

Have a look at this article on the holiday blues to get some ideas about feeling better. I particularly like the recommendation of volunteering. I've always enjoyed volunteering and feel that my kind thoughts and acts around the holidays make me better appreciate the meaning of Christmas.

An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Holiday Wrapping Paper

If you hate waste, try an alternative to all that disposable wrapping paper, and wrap with fabric. Your local fabric store has wonderful Christmas fabric that you can cut with pinking shears (a serrated cut that won't ravel). Wrap your presents in fabric and use that fabric from year to year. Just pack it away with your Christmas decorations.

If the present is going to a friend instead of a close family member, the fabric becomes a delightful accompaniment to the gift. Quality cotton or cotton blend fabric comes in widths of 42" to 45"; wide enough for all but the largest presents.

This year show your friends and family that you care about them and the planet by investing in wrapping material that won't be populating the land fill the day after Christmas. You may be starting a new tradition.

Cutting the Cost of Chirstmas Without Guilt

If you are planning on cutting back this Christmas, drop the guilt trip. How many years have you spent reviewing your bills in January with horror and the firm resolution that you'll never do it again? How many of those gifts are still around today and not cluttering up a land fill somewhere?

Okay, you are creating memories for your family; you are remembering loved ones far away; you are trying to show the people around you a good time during the holidays. STOP already. The spiraling cost of Christmas is putting people into bankruptcy.

Look around. Is this consumer driven society of ours making a better human being? In the last twenty years, have people become less superficial, kinder, more empathetic? Is that big gift really sending the right message to your child? Is Christmas at your house more about receiving than giving.

Maybe it isn't too late for you to reinterpret the real meaning of Christmas in your home by giving thoughtful presents that show that you have respect for the planet and concern for your fellow man.