Christmas Preparations

The past couple of weeks have been filled with preparing for Christmas. Amazingly, we are in great shape, despite Christmas still being two weeks away. Christmas decorations are up, lights hung outside, shopping near done, wrapping near done, Christmas cards addressed and mailed. Although so much is done, I still feel stressed. I am so lucky that Dan is a great, efficient shopper and he saves me so much time in this area. He has an eye for deals and can shop very quickly. I am slow as a turtle when I shop because I over-analyze everything and can't make up my mind. I have a few things to shop for tomorrow, but thanks to Dan, we're almost finished up.

What is left to do is baking, cooking, and cleaning. I LOVE to bake at Christmas time and this is the only time you will find me making anything from scratch. I usually make TONS of chex mix and cookies and end up with lots left over after sending plates to family and work. I didn't bake last year because I was trying to lose the baby fat, but it is ON this year!! I think that I am going to stay off of the scale from this point forward because it won't be pretty :)

We are hosting my side of the family on Christmas Eve so I need to get the house cleaned and a menu set for that day. Thank goodness my sister will be there to help me get the food ready because she is a whiz in the kitchen. As of now, our Christmas Day will just be the three of us, but I'm looking forward to spending a quiet day with Dan and Jacob. We'll probably celebrate with Dan's family that weekend.

Post-Christmas, I have that whole week off and plan on tackling projects around the house and visiting with some friends I don't get to see much during the year. I am hoping for a day or two of quiet time and maybe even read a book (I started one in August and haven't had time to touch it since). Jacob is going to daycare because we're paying for it anyways and if he was home it would defeat the purpose of getting anything done OR relaxing :)

Anyways, I meant for this post to be about how crazy Christmas time is and how our society has placed so much emphasis on everything except about what Christmas is truly about. I admit, I am completely caught up in all this ridiculous insanity, but I think it is important to take a step back and remember the reason for the season. As Jacob gets older, I hope that we can instill in him that Christmas is not about receiving, but giving back and celebrating the greatest GIFT we have ever received.