Christmas is a-comin’. Ready or not, here she comes!! Our halls are decked, things are (mostly) done….we’re about as ready as we’re gonna be.
Despite my vacation/sick days, this home stretch has still felt a little rushed….but such is life, I guess. I may as well just give up on this goofy idea I have every year of “doing everything super far in advance”. Maybe when it comes right down to it, I thrive under the pressure of a deadline!! lol!! Just kidding. I don’t know, maybe it’s true though. Even though I “started Christmas” way back in November (remember how early I decorated?), it still seems to take ’til the final few days to really be DONE.
The straggling to do list is getting checked off:
✅ Baked some cookies last night with Ethan. Threw another batch in today on a break. Trying to get the kids to independently finish the final batch this afternoon.
✅ I wrapped some more presents last night while Ivan took Asher out to finish shopping.
✅ I bought groceries at 6:30 a.m. this morning. VERY good call, though I was definitely not alone in my genius idea of “going early to beat the crowds”. There was a good number of other people there, but still- way less crowded than I bet it will be tonight!!!
✅ Picked up some stamps from the machine at the post office lobby on my way home.
✅ Stuffed the cards/ letters (I addressed them yesterday), stuck the stamps on and then ran over to a new mailbox outside a gas station right by my house and dumped them all in around noon. My guess? That mailbox load was already picked up for the day and they will sit there until tomorrow. OH WELL. If you are one of the very select few real-life friends who read this blog, your card is going to arrive after Christmas, FYI. 🙂
I think that’s basically it! I love love love Christmas, but I also really enjoy the week in between Christmas and New Years. The pressure to “get ready” is off, and we usually do a lot of lounging/ relaxing/ movies/ etc. I also hope to work on setting up my new planner!!! I ALWAYS feel ready for a “fresh start” on routines, goals, etc. after the very busy, chaotic time that is December. As in, I get actually giddy thinking about setting up say, a new workout routine or some other habit. 🤓
(I’m also feeling ready to get back into some non-Christmas related posts!! This blog is so much of a “what is happening in my life” style blog, that I can’t really help it. Christmas is dominating right now. 🤷♀️ It is what it is. :))
Are you ready?? Are you relieved? Excited? Tired? 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a quick, successful shopping trip this morning. No issues getting what I needed- thankful for that, since time is of the essence at this point.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Merry Christmas, Kae! Your blog is such a source of joy for me, I am so glad we connected this year 🙂 I’m working this morning and HOPING hubby and A get everything ready at home for my in laws to arrive tonight!! Fingers crossed. I hope you and your family have the most wonderful Christmas! xx
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Merry Christmas to you too!! Thank you for the sweet comment! I love your blog too and am also so glad we connected. 🙂 I hope you guys have had a great holiday. I am sure your hubby did great prepping everything. 😉
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Your blog is just so much fun to read – relatable and uplighting (hello all those gratitude prompts)! I can’t wait to keep reading in 2022 and am so glad I found your cozy corner of the internet.
I’m…mostly ready. Honestly, I’m someone that starts prepping a long way in advance and I think that about 25% of it just can’t get pulled together until the last minute. I’m too much of a planner to leave things off until the end of December, but think that there are just always lots of little things that can’t really get checked off until the few days before Christmas.
I have to admit I always find the week between Christmas and New Year’s a bit of a drag. I always feel a bit sad Christmas is over and think there is a bit of a crash from all the intense work that goes in to preparing. I will say that last year was the best year; instead of hosting friends before Christmas (which just added to the craziness), we hosted a few little small groups AFTER Christmas, which helped extend the fun but with a lot less pressure. At this point we’ll have to scale that back this year because of Omicron, but I’m hoping we can do some fun outdoor adventures with the kids – maybe a few hikes, and I also want to take them to see a movie some day as well.
Things aren’t looking good for a return to in-person school here in January – case numbers are SOARING, so I have a feeling this break will be much longer than normal. Oh well. One day at a time, and for now I’m going to assume everyone is going back to school in January.
Love your photocard; it looks great and I will definitely investigate Amazon prints next year. I remember you mentioning having ordered through Amazon, but then promptly forgot.
Hope everyone has a simply wonderful Christmas!
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Haha, I know… I’m so the same way! It’s like those last little tasks just can never get checked off until the last minute, for some reason. I know what you mean about that in between week, although I do generally like it. I do not like dealing with the mess of presents and stuff though!!!! We have had friends over in the past after Christmas but before New Years, and while I do love that, I feel like it adds some pressure to hurry and get everything cleaned up. But maybe that’s good, in a way. Haha. We don’t have plans to have anyone over this week, so we should be able to just mostly relax and deal with the mess as we can. (It’s much better now that the kids are older- they still get plenty of gifts but not all the “toys” and stuff to figure out where we will put it!) I hope you guys have had a wonderful Christmas!!
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You did great checking off all the lists. It does sound overwhelming and I’m so glad I don’t have to do it hahahah. I still have 5 more days of vacation but I do miss some routine, which is usually happens when I’m on vacation.
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I think I wrapped my final presents on the 20th? I don’t buy all that much as you know so I didn’t have much to wrap but it felt good to be ready. The boys were home starting 12/22 so I needed to be done by then! The days leading up to Christmas were not fun as I had another Covid scare (positive at home, negative PCR). And I just felt like crap. I am starting to feel better, though. I am just kind of relieved the holiday is over? I love Christmas but all the excess gets to me.. like my MIL got Paul 13 presents!!!! That is why we don’t get the boys much because others go overboard. The boys aren’t done opening presents. We have them gradually open them. So Paul has 5 left I think and Will has 1. And we have told Paul that we will he going through toys and donating things to make room for the new toys!
I am looking forward to the week ahead, though. The boys are back in school, except Friday. I am working but it will be quiet. I have been in my planner since November but am looking forward to filling out January goals and such. Plus I am going to start to use the new reading journal I bought – the one by Modern Mrs Darcy.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!
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On a totally unrelated point – thanks so much for recommending Atypical. I love it – maybe a bit too much. I’ve binged watched a whole season in a night.
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OMG I know!!! We are flying through it WAY too fast too. Fortunately Christmas forced a little pause from binging on it…but it’s soooo good!! The episodes are pretty short though, which makes me sad! 😦 Will be over too soon. Glad you like it too 🙂
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