Great notes everybody....I was VERY happy with the way Christmas came together this year and lucky for me...I had the gifts all wrapped and in a gift closet ready to set under the tree and stocking stuffers sorted and in a box...because on the way to the late Christmas Eve Church service I fell and REALLY hurt my arm. It was my right arm too so not only was I in pain but I couldn't even use it...UGH....but I was able to direct hubby and DD where everything was etc...it was at that moment that I KNEW all the advanced prep was worth it!!
Notes for 2012
1. Baking: I love baking in the final days before Christmas...we baked on the 22nd, 23rd, and a little on Christmas Eve...BUT for 2012...I'd like to add another day in there...the 23rd was pretty hectic!!
2. I did manage to get everything wrapped by the 22nd...which is good for me...no wrapping on Christmas Eve... This year I want to wrap throughout the year but I'll still have plenty to do in December too!
3. Christmas Eve was WONDERFUL....we made a few ornaments, had a nice planned out lunch, watched a movie in the middle of the day, played with Evan and talked with family! Had a BIG dinner with friends....next year is our "finger foods" Christmas Eve...we alternate....
Had a FUN elf hunt and a Candy Cane hunt too...
Even for the adults because prizes were MONEY...lol I don't think I'd change a thing...other than NOT falling.
4. I'd like to set up the gift closet a bit different because it got really full and several times I had to take out bags of stuff and dig around....at least it was all in one place but I think I can set it up better.
5. I want to participate in the MHH card exchange again in 2012. I skipped 2011 because I was trying to simplify and budget BUT ended up really missing the cards from people here at MHH.
6. We had several lovely outings and programs we attended. I want to do these again in 2012 because it really helped us celebrate the whole season and not just ONE DAY.
7. Do the Christmas Art journal again....it is a fun thing to look at now that Christmas is over....BUT I may try to make the base pages a head of time...like is suggested with December Dailys...I found that once December 16th hit it was very difficult to work on it. That is one reason I will keep the 1-25 approach rather than all of December...that allows the week between Christmas and New Years to finish up any pages. I also want do a better job organizing my office/art area because one reason i didn't want to work on it was it kept getting messy and then I was doing multiple clean ups!!
8. I ended up being finished with shopping by December 12th....my goal is still December 1st and one of these years I am going to make it!! (I used to say December 10th so at least I came close to that one!!)
9. Menu planning and baking went well but I'd like to get an earlier start on making decisions on which items etc. I was a little behind schedule on that. I also discovered that saving a little money each week and then going on a baking ingredients shopping trip was easier for me than picking up a few items each week....LESS time I had to store the items and LESS list keeping and updating!! I'll do the one shopping trip approach again in 2012 it worked well.
10. Budget...I was VERY blessed to have money set aside this year from Christmas. I ended up amending a tax return and getting extra money back which I put in my Christmas Club account. This year I will not have that so I need to be diligent in saving...I will not be putting it in the Club account again because they had a VERY late pay out date...like November 16th and I wanted my money before THAT...
11. I'd like to do more in depth cleaning...earlier...I found myself wanting to clean out the pots and pans cabinet etc TOO CLOSE to Christmas...but I also wanted things easy to find etc. I did a pretty good job of putting out trays, platters, bowls etc that I was plannign to use so i wasn't digging around at the last minute.
Overall I am very happy with Christmas 2011...even my daughters noticed how nice it was to be prepared and ready to really relax and enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...
:santa: