I hope that by posting the things I really need to accomplish I'll make myself accountable. I'll let you know how it works out.
1) Finish shopping . . . it would be helpful if I knew exactly what I was buying for each of those left on my 'to do' list, but the reality is that I'm one of those who sees the perfect gift and buys it. Sometimes, it's perfect for me and not quite so perfect for the recipient. I don't let this bother me too much. They can always give it back . . . right?
2) Cook some goodies. Goodies translate to sweets. And there is the nut in the peanut butter and why I haven't performed this particular task yet. Once I start baking sweets, I feel this overwhelming urge to taste the product of my hard labor. Bottom line: I have to eat them. Since, I finally slimmed my hips back into size 10 jeans, I'm not all that anxious to expand them again. However, I'll eventually give into this temptation and cook some goodies and eat them.
3) Write my annual Christmas letter. Doesn't sound like that'd be hard for a writer, does it? But I have this unwritten rule -- I go with a theme for my Christmas letter every year. Now, it's not like I truly understand themes (ask my critique partners or my oldest child, the English Lit major and they'll tell you). I finish a 100K word book and then ask them what the theme is. That aside, I do like a theme in my letters (maybe because they're shorter and I can hold onto that thought). So, I've been vacillating over the theme. Actually writing this blog is another prime way to procrastinate on my letter. But it's time to 'Git 'er done' as Larry the Cable Guy says, so tonight it's writing my cheerful missive while drinking mass amounts of eggnog. Should make for interesting text!
4) Mail my annual Christmas letter. Last year half of my stack never hit the mailbox. Oh, they were typed, printed on lovely holiday stationary, stuck in envelopes, addressed envelopes I might add, and then perfectly arranged in a pocket in my husband's car. I found them in February. Oops. I really started to send them on anyway, and blame the post office, but I had a conviction of honesty and simply threw them away. So, if you were one of those who normally receives a card from me each year and didn't . . . the post office didn't strike with mean intent. I was simply, tragically unorganized. I did save the letter to my computer . . . if you're feeling terribly left out, let me know. I'll email it to you.
5) Finish my sewing projects. In years past, I've been the craft queen. Not this year, so I started a few sewing projects for my youngest. Now, all I need to do is get them completed. Half sewn garments sorta loss their impact when they're unwrapped.
6) Mail the gifts to out-of-town relatives. This is another biggy for me. Last year, my lovely sister-in-law didn't get hers until May. No, the gift wasn't stuffed in a pocket, but left in my office floor in an unmarked box. Spring cleaning hit and I found the gifts. Oops, again. I'm really going to do better this year.
7) Plan Christmas Eve (private time for just my family) meal, and plan the Christmas day menu. It's always at my house and somehow that puts me in charge of menu-planning. Considering my organizational skills, or lack thereof, it's easy to see how much my family loves me.
So what have I accomplished . . .?
All the decorations are up, inside and out.
I've wrapped every present that I've already purchased.
I've cleaned my house. Okay, so it's as much as anyone can clean with five folks and a dog constantly under foot. So, how about, I've relatively cleaned my house?
I've purchased gifts for at least 6/8ths of the folks on my list.
I ordered early enough that all my Internet gifts have arrived, and yep, they're wrapped.
I purchased special gift boxes for those expensive gifts.
I've even managed a special trip to Dallas for several hard to find things.
I bought replacement light bulbs for my 5 optical trees. Now, I just need to find the detachable plugs. Why weren't those in the box? No, good answer.
Updated all the addresses for my Christmas letter.
All in all, I'm feeling hopeful that I'll accomplish my 'to do' list, and if not . . . there's always next year, right? Maybe I'll just go to Valentine's card and save myself a little grief.
Happy holiday organizing to all of you fellow elves.
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