Final Christmas prep, or lack thereof
I’m mostly about as done with Christmas as I’m gonna be this year, for now. Well, almost. My Christmas cards still need to be addressed, but they are here and ready and I have stamps.
It is actually sort of nice that some of the pressure is “off”, in a way, since we are traveling. I don’t feel the pressure to finalize our menu, get groceries, finish wrapping, etc.
The Christmas with Ivan’s local family is over (we did that Sunday).
We are doing a belated Christmas with my parents in January when they are home from Ireland (they are spending Christmas with my sister’s family) and we are home from Mexico. But that’s a ways off yet so technically I have time. I do still want to try to wrap most of those presents this week (maybe tonight) because I am 99.9% sure that I will not feel in the festive, gift-wrapping mood in mid-January. lol.
We are not packing gifts for Mexico. We normally do not really do a formal exchange with the Mexican side, because normally we don’t see them and it’s just too complicated. Also, there are approximately 5,427 of them. 😄 I asked Ivan if we shouldn’t at least pack gifts for his parents, but he said no, he didn’t want to lug stuff along. Okey dokey! Not my concern- it’s his family! Staying out of it. I’m assuming we will go pick out some gifts down there eventually, even if we don’t have them ready for Christmas Eve (we don’t even arrive until almost noon on the 24th….). From what I understand, gifts are NOT the main focus of the Christmas celebration there, anyway. Maybe we’ll exchange with his parents on New Years Eve instead.
We also are not bringing gifts for the boys along. I suppose travel over Christmas could be more complicated for those with little ones who need Santa to show up wherever they are. But that’s a non-issue over here, thankfully. We are planning to hold most of their gifts for our belated Christmas with my parents in January. BUT, we may do a little mini-pre Christmas on Friday night and give them some of their gifts. Several of their gifts involve clothing items that they would probably enjoy packing for our trip!
Something I’ll miss
I will miss our regular Christmas traditions, a little, but I know this is a special year and it’s totally fine.
I think what I’m actually most bummed about in a way is missing the week between Christmas and New Year’s! There’s always just this nice, relaxed vibe after Christmas itself has ended.
It’s the time I feel best able to really finally just enjoy the season. All the work and prep are over. We normally watch a lot of Christmas movies in that week, I like to sit and read by the fire and Christmas tree, there’s still holiday cheer in the air, etc. The kids don’t have school, so there’s no rushing around. Activities are mostly on break. We also usually do a few fun things like go to a movie in the theater, and there’s the whole “new year” energy that I like carving out some time to reflect on and prep for. It’s just a nice, homey, cozy time that I look forward to! I’m sad to miss that this year.
Travel To-Dos
I still have a lot to do this week, even though the Christmas stuff is winding down. It always seems to be so much work to get ready to travel. There are always inevitable errands (travel sized contact solution, refilling cosmetic items, etc…), making sure laundry is done before packing time, getting my haircut! (done already- yesterday!), making sure hamster cage is clean and leaving instructions about the hot tub and now, prepping Charlie for his local staycation at my SIL’s house! He needs a nail trim before we go and I need to sit down and write out his general schedule and anything they’ll need to know. I want to do my nails and need to return stuff at the library and on and on.
I felt a little perplexed about how Coco was relaxing, having a chill weekend and watching a movie the day before they left for a 12 day trip!! “Chill” never seems to be a word I’d use to describe the day before our trips. hahaha. I guess I need to study her prep routine and take notes. 😅
Are you ready for Christmas? Do you feel like travel always creates a lot of little to-do items for you, too??
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful that the weather looks GOOD for Christmas!! A rare 49 degrees on Dec. 24th is predicted. Sorry for those who wanted a white Christmas, but if we are driving to Chicago + flying, I DO NOT WANT A SNOWSTORM!!
P.S. Charlie is not frazzled about prepping for Christmas OR his upcoming travel. 😂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Charlie is going to have an amazing time. He doesn’t have to pack, he gets to stay in a new house and have new people love on him and then you’ll be home and he’ll be so happy to see you. We can learn a lot from our dogs.
I have to confess that the workload is not even when we go on vacation. Hubs has the burden of figuring out what the boys need and getting it into their suitcases. I only have to look after my stuff and figure out food.
I’m 100% in favor of getting the store cookies (yes you COULD make them but it’s less enjoyable and the store cookies were good) and decorating them yourselves (the thing that you love doing). I love shortbread cookies but I never feel like I have the right recipe and oh hey wait I’m never going to make anything as good as a Walker’s shortbread cookie. I was at Homegoods last week and picked up an assortment of their cookies that I’ll put on our Christmas cookie tray and some snack packs that I’ve been enjoying.
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Hey Kae!! I love your freshened up hair cut! Going away for the holidays has its own charm, I think. In Russian culture New years winter vacation is big for travel but T is a home body 😉
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Your hair looks great! So nice to get it freshened up before a trip! It’s always a bit hectic when we are leaving for a trip. I pack for the boys but it’s pretty easy since I have a checklist on my phone. I think it is maybe a little easier to have control over their packing versus when they do it on their own and I have to potentially pester them to make sure they didn’t forget anything? I end up packing their stuff in my suitcase usually although Paul could probably manage his own carry-on for our April FL trip so maybe we will try that. Taco is getting a little carry-on suitcase for Christmas but he’s a ways from being able to pull a suitcase through an airport… I think there’s a 50/50 chance he asks one of us to carry him. Ha. So I’d rather not carry him AND his carry-on. 😉
We are pretty ready for Christmas but we buy far fewer gifts than the average family, I think. I had planned to buy stocking stuffers for the boys this week while I was downtown for work but now I’m in isolation so I asked if Phil would and he was happy to take care of it. I suggested maybe some candy canes of m&ms and something else but he did a price analysis a big “sharing size” of m&ms was cheaper than the candy cane of m&ms so he went that direction. I never would have price compared, but hey – he took care of it and it’s done so I can’t complain!
The week before Christmas and New Years is still kind of ‘business as usual’ for us. Paul has care through the after school program on Wed/Thur so I will probably put my out of office on Tues/Fri so he doesn’t sit on his iPad all day. I think in 5 years it will be more enjoyable to take some time off with the boys… for now, Taco is still in daycare luckily! I can’t say I desire a week at home with him in the winter to be completely honest… That would be the antithesis of relaxing…
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Your hair looks fab! And it sounds like you are right on top of things. It always seems like the worst part about traveling is the prep work, so I hope you are able to sit back and relax as soon as you arrive!
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Your hair looks fantastic and I think buying pre-made pre-cut cookies at the store is GENIUS (I’ve never seen ones like that in stores locally where I live – small business idea for me next year – I”M KIDDING).
I am not chill the day or the entire week before a trip. Travel stresses me out because there is just SO much to arrange. Getting things settled with the house, school, neighbours. But it’s always worth it in the end. So…yeah. Don’t feel bad about not feeling chill. I don’t think that’s the average response.
I hope your trip is FABULOUS and you find lots of little moments to relax and soak up the fresh traditions. I bet Ivan is SO EXCITED!!! And how nice your parents can visit your sister in Ireland. I hope your mom is continuing to heal well from after her fall?
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Love your hair! So chic!
I am not sure what else to prepare before the trip other than packing. Hahaha…. I don’t have a routine, just add/substract list of things to pack, handle over to everyone, inspect they don’t forget anything, and done! We have helper who will come to feed the cat every few days so I can always text her to do things in the house while we are away. We didn’t bring gifts either which makes the return exciting for the girls as they will open gifts the night of our return. Hope you have a blast in Mexico
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We have a stupidly early flight tomorrow so are staying at the airport hotel tonight, so I’ve got about 5 hours to wrap up work (why have so many of my students written their essays using ChatGPT? It creates so much work for me…) and do the last little things on my list. My husband is at work (and has the suitcase) so I just need to pick T up at school and head to town/airport on the bus.
Luckily the cleaners are here, so we’ll come back to a clean house, albeit with quite a few piles of clean laundry currently hanging out in my office.
Santa came a bit early with a scooter, and I’ve packed some small things for my parents’ house.
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Yasss!! I’m excited for a warmish Christmas Day so the kids can go outside and do things and not just bounce around the house like ping-pong balls all day.
Your trip is going to be great and wonderful and the boys will remember it forever. Charlie is going to be so spoiled and will also enjoy his vacation.
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I left a comment and I don’t know if it worked…sorry if it is a dupe!
I love your haircut! All ready to go!
I am 100% on board with buying those cookies at the store. I love making my own cookies, but those cutout cookies are a pain and inevitably I burn some of them or a leg falls off of a gingerbread man etc. So save your creativity for chocolate chip or something!
I am a very chill traveler and I usually pack a few days in advance and then run through my checklist the day before to make sure I am not missing anything. If I am only going to my parents for the weekend or something, I literally just throw a few things in a bag and walk out the door (like I will do today) as we are very low frills and I could always borrow something from one of them if needed. I like to be prepared, but they have a Safeway and an extra sweatshirt, so I don’t overthink it.
It is nice that you are not exchanging gifts with the Mexican side, as the logistics of getting everything and carrying it there could definitely add stress! My coworker goes to his wife’s house in Montana every year and she brings a suitcase of fresh fruit and vegetables and organic items etc. that they can’t get there and he is not a bag checker normally so this is always a gripe of his.
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Yes, I hear you! One year we traveled on the 26th, and I missed that relaxing week SO MUCH. I’m hoping you can have some down time when you get back from Mexico. I can’t wait to hear about your trip. I know… there’s always so much to do before traveling, but it sounds like you have it all under control!
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We’re spending the holidays and time between Christmas and New Year’s with my MIL and I had the exact same feelings about missing out on the time between Christmas and New Year’s when things slow down and you have time to just hang out and “be”… we won’t have to many family obligations (Jon’s local family is very small), but it’s still different from being home where you can just lounge around. I hope you have a good trip and still enjoy these slightly different holidays this year.
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