Well, I found my copy of the old list - it's not formatted the best, but here's what I had. Any additions/comments?
Planner Notations for the CC or HGP
1. Hired Services: Call the man who hangs our icicle lights so they will be up by the First Sunday of Advent (November 27th, 2005).
2. The day after Thanksgiving: Purchase chocolates to fill the wooden advent calendar.
3. Sometime in early November: Bring out my Christmas tops, sweaters, Santa hats, pins & other jewelry, towels, dish towels, dished, candy dishes, and Advent Calendar.
4. Halloween Weekend: Start setting up Christmas Villages.
5. Time Off: Make notes of when to take a vacation, a day off, a * me * day. Make notes of when to request time off if you work outside your home.
6. Periodically: Check on progress of crafts & handmade gifts. Re-evaluate as needed.
7. Shopping: Carry gift, grocery, and craft supplies lists at all times. Check your inventory from time to time.
8. Food Glorious Food: Set up a cooking-baking-freezing schedule. Create menus and shopping lists and carry them at all times.
9. Entertaining: Tentatively plan visits and gatherings at your home. Know when enough is enough. Practice ways of saying * no * if the need arises.
10. Greeting Cards: August: Check addresses and inventory card from last year. September: Start addressing envelopes. Be on the watch for holiday stamps. October: Sign cards and put them in envelopes. Do not seal yet. November: Add short personal notes OR your holiday letter to your greeting cards and stamp. December 1st: Mail!
11. Battery Check: Check batteries in holiday watches, holiday clocks, and any other Christmas gadget that needs batteries.
12. Music: Note the date radios stations start playing Christmas music 24/7 in your area.
13. Order: Holiday hams, pastry, and any other holiday foods that might not be available after a specific date. Order engraved cards early.
14. Schedule: Haircuts, manicures, holiday photos, pet grooming (too).
15. Take Time To: Visit Santa. Take a mall stroll to enjoy the sights and sounds but not necessarily shop. Attend a holiday movie, play, concert, or simply Christmas light-look.
16. Set Up: Holiday Central, your gift-wrapping station, your mailing depot.
17. List of Small Things to Buy: Ornament hooks, tape, mailing labels.
18. Shop After Holidays Throughout the Year: Valentine’s Day for all things red. St. Pat’s for green. Easter for pastels to accent a Victorian theme. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for gifts for the men and women on your list … at a good price. Socks … any time.
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Thought of another....when changing camera batteries, make sure you change your smoke detector battery and test C02 detectors.
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** purchase chocolates the day after Thanksgiving to fill the wooden advent calendar.
** bring out my Christmas tops, sweaters, Santa hats, pins, towels, dish towels and Advent Calendar in November
**use a lot of holiday dishes and candy dishes earlier this year. To enjoy them more throughout the season and cut down on some unpacking work the week or two before Christmas.
**Note what vacation days to take off work. I will make notes of what I did in my days off. I think I have finally perfected what days are best to take off (based on what I want to do and what my work schedule is like).
**I note date to put in my request for personal and annual leave for the holidays
**when to start putting up my fall/Thanksgiving decorations
**when to pull out Christmas decorations
**note about gifts to make and when to start
**note of when to shop for specific food items
**when to start preparing specific recipes for freezing
**when to remove them from the freezer for serving
**reminder about when to order her holiday ham, fresh turkey and any other special holiday foods from main course items to special desserts.
**Check the battery in my Christmas watch,
**Put my Christmas pin on my coat,
**Start trolling the two radio stations that play Christmas 24/7
**making appointments for any home decorating task that needs hired assistance, such as hanging icicle lights form the roofline on the first of November
**noting days and times to shop. I usually mark a day in September, Black Friday and a day in the first week of December
**timetable for writing, addressing, and mailing holiday correspondence AND for mailing packages.
**I'm going to add a new list this year to my holiday note book. Kids Christmas books. And Christmas books wish list.
**Inventory wrapping supplies.
**Prepare plans for Thanksgiving.
**Decorate for Halloween.
**do a big shopping run on or about December 22nd, always on a weekday and never later than that. That means that the day before, I make a note to clean out the fridge and pantry (partly to make room, partly to make sure I know what we need) and to write my shopping list.
**notation for early in November to buy ornament hooks and tape (or in July/August with back-to-school sales).
**note days to spend with each side of the family
**Note days to begin candy making.
**reminder to check outdoor lights to be sure they are in working order and locates extension cords
**Note the starts of the CC and HGP (or now, the new plans).
**note the dates to order specialty bakery items for delivery for both Thanksgiving and Christmas
**also add a follow up phone call that the order has been shipped on time
**Schedule haircuts (call Dec 1st) - some do it even earlier
**Order ham/turkey (mid Nov)
**Take Holiday photo (early Nov)
**Start working on Christmas cards(mid Nov)
**Pickup Christmas stamps (Nov 1st) - usually available early October in the US
**make sure I go a mall where Santa is & take a break from shopping where I can watch the kids talking to *him*. I didn't do that this year & after Christmas I realized just how much I missed watching the little ones with belief written all over their faces & in their eyes. I also like walking by when *he's* not
busy; waving & saying "Merry Christmas, Santa. I believe !" just loud enough for others around me to hear & then watch some of the reactions.
**Oct--ingredients for baking all nut breads, cookies, candies, etc. And start buying those things.
**Nov--pick days to bake nut breads & make cookie dough
**Dec--mail packages by date (usps.com will have mailing dates/info later in the year)
**Do now - print off Nov./Dec. calendar and note dates for planner
**Mid-November - Address/Make Christmas cards, write personal notes.
**Set up gift wrapping station
**Designate some type of packaging to hide all stocking stuffers together, so I don't go overboard, d/t not remembering/find what has been previously purchased.
**use all the Rudolph Club articles to make notations in planner.
**Remove Thanksgiving decorations
**Buy liquor for baking/serving
**Begin exterior decorating (weather permitting)
**Begin interior decorating Dec 3
**Buy Christmas Tree
**Start doughs for Holiday Baking Dec 3
**Finish buying Stocking Stuffers
**Wrap & mail send-away gifts by Dec. 6
**Mail Christmas cards by Dec. 10
**Finish buying gifts by Dec 11
**Wrap gifts by Dec 17
**Celebrate St. Nicholas Day Dec 6th
**Celebrate Immaculate Conception Dec 8th
**Celebrate St. Lucia Day Dec 13th
**Celebrate Winter Solstice Dec 21st
**Update addresses as cards begin to arrive
**Track Santa's flight on Christmas Eve Noradsanta.org
**Plan New Year's activities, food, wine, desert, music
**Address & Mail December Birthday/Anniversary Cards
**Pay bills & Balance Checkbook
**Patrol the yard, pick up any blown-down branches and twigs
**Maintain Basic Household Routines do laundry, clean kitchen, tidy living room
**make a note on the date I plan to pull out the decorations, reminding me of the location of things that aren't just for Christmas. Like my outdoor extension cord. Every year it takes me a little while to remember where it is....
**On December 23- charge camcorder batteries!!!
**In July - I've already booked my hair appointments from now thru December! and noted same in my planner's calendar pages!
**I will add on December 23rd to charge the batteries for our digital camera!!
**I bought a really inexpensive quick-charger that is switchable from 2/4 batteries and charges either AA or AAA, along with some extra batteries. It also came with a free car adapter. It's been wonderful! Fresh batteries on a moments notice!
**Don't forgot to book in Fido's hair cut. My dog groomer has said Christmas is getting booked up quickly already and its only the middle of July.
**write in back of my pocket calendar all gifts I have to buy this year. Christmas Plus others
**making a batch of cookies and then freezing them vs making the dough and freezing that and then have a marathon bake-off--no need for that anymore!
**I decide in early Nov. what dates to go to get pictures taken with ds and SANTA AND what date I will take a "me" trip to the bookstore to buy coffee and browse. I made a date with myself to just get out...
**We should ALL schedule in some ME dates -- and as soon as possible before the details of life and the holiday season rob us of the opportunity.
**One thing I did in '04, around Sept/Oct, was to make a list of places to go and just browse for ideas for Christmas. One of the neatest stores I shopped the previous year (after I had completed most of my shopping) I found such neat and wonderful gifts for many people. So I made a list of 3-4 stores I enjoy, and to make it a point to just go and browse, (of course, if I found the perfect gift, buy then) for ideas. A couple of the stores I was unable to get to, but kept the list and have it in my planner for '05!
**I have made a note to make my appointment to get my hair done. This way I get my choice of times.
**Gave myself a deadline for having all my gifts and cards sent.
**A reminder where to find the Christmas towels and shower curtain.
**I printed out Oct, Nov, & Dec calendar pages and have made notes on those pages. Right now I am just ball parking the dates and will tweak them as time gets closer. I will then transfer those notes to a more permanent calendar as the dates firm up. This way I can also see which weeks are filling up and hopefully switch the more flexible things, like dog grooming and people hair appts to a less frenzied time.
**a thoughtful suggestion: In the after-Christmas sales, I picked up some cute little holiday pins, toe-socks, earrings & T-shirts. I've made a notation in my planner to wrap them and give "a little something" on Thanksgiving night to each of my daughters, nieces, sister, sisters-in-law and mom. Maybe they will be after-dinner favors. Not sure how I will do it. Just a fun surprise to kick off the holiday season! The memory-jogger in my planner means the recipients will have a whole month to
enjoy their little gifts...
**For me, planning this early involves scheduling dr. and dentist appointments. I won't go between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15.
**adding, Change cell phone ring tone to my holiday notebook planner.
**Making a note sometime in late summer/early fall to have your winter coats dry cleaned. This avoids pulling them out on the first really cold day to find them covered in dirt and/or pet hair. Some folks might clean them before putting them away - but I'm not that organized yet!
**Making notes of the days that Christmas movies are to be released at the theater and/or on video.
**OK, this may be indelicate, but I put a notation on my calendar every year to have the septic pumped in October, before the ground freezes.
**I have been thinking about adding a topic to remind everyone to check their cleaning supplies in the next couple of weeks before the HGP kicks off. The last thing I want is to be all enthusiastic about starting cleaning and then find I'm short of specific cleaners
**I'm going to plan for some nice together time with DH during Dec. I always find that despite good intentions Dec still gets busy and quiet special times just with Dh and me somehow find themselves at the bottom of the list Not this year!
**make reservations for a "Breakfast with Santa" at the Zoo. By the time I remembered that I needed to do it for this year, each date was already sold out! Now, I know that the event books up pretty early in the year. But at least we have our membership which lets us get into the the Zoolight Safari for free, but I am marking in my calendar now which day/days we will go because the event only last for about 12 days.
**I am also marking dates that I tend to forget, such as fall dates to the county fair, state fair (a 2 hour drive from our home) and any fall festivals as soon as I get those dates. I don't want my family to miss out because of my "brain fog."
**Early this year, some of us on one thread were talking about making dress up boxxes for our kids. So, I want to got Wal-mart and check to see if they have any costumes left and marked down.
**I wrote down when we have to shop for Operation Christmas Child. The boxes need to be done in November so we have to shop early. With school sales on now I can buy that kind of stuff. I picked a Saturday to go with my kids and get the rest.
**What about the date to send the letters to the northpole to have them post marked ??
**Stock up on camera film/get any full rolls developed, so that I can share duplicates with family members that I'll see during holiday celebrations
**Drop off and pick up dry cleaning, especially winter coats
**Buy firewood, fire starters, etc.
**Polish all silver decorations
**How about having your furnace looked at before the winter?
**clean the AC/Heat filters and to wash the reuseable ones.
**Maybe even add an airfreshener in a holiday scent.
**If you have wood burning fireplace, NOW is the time to schedule someone to come out to clean your chimney.
**If you have an automatic sprinkler system have them blown out before the cold weather hits
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I forgot to turn on our upright freezer a few days before I began baking.
It takes about that long to be really sure it is evenly cold and ready to handle many dozens of cookies.
I have already added this notation to my Notebook calendar for the fall.
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I was organised at booking in my pre-Christmas hair, face and other appointments - but what I can't get for January, when I'd like to start the year clean and fresh after some sugary seasonal excesses, is a dental hygenist appointment. 5 hygenists booked all month!
I shall diary in to book my January appointments when I book my pre-Christmas ones.
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I will be adding in to book in for my massage, hair appointment, manicure, eyelash tint etc in Nov and Dec ... these are things I wanted to do, but never found ME time for.
I also left it a bit late to book house and window cleaners for during the Christmas Season - they are hard to get at any time of the year here at the moment!! So I will do that even EARLIER for 2006. It just took the pressure off SO much this year - a welcome help
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I'm going to sit down with my notebook and the calendar and come up with reasonable but earlier deadlines to complete crafts next year. This year we had very easy crafts - making beeswax candles with my DDs - but life is so busy that without specific scheduled time to work on them, we did fewer than we had planned. With 3 young children, I always seem to overestimate my ability to fit everything in! I'm going to make note of where I'm storing the unused supplies so we can pick up where we left off next time.
Something that has been very helpful in the past has been to list things that need to be purchased for next year, and when to do it. So, I'm going to note where I found the beautiful Colonial Candle tapers I used for our Advent wreath, and put a date down to go get them. I also transfer these kinds of errands to my general calendar planner. Other things to note: how many strands of lights need to be repaired or replaced for next year, when to buy holiday postage, mailing deadlines for my packages that have to go cross country and overseas, and stores/catalogs where I found good gift ideas.
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I kepting rearranging and playing with my decor all month long. I didn't get my table to look like what I wanted until the 23rd! So while I had the camera out I took pictures of each setup I liked; mantle, table, window, etc. I even went outside to take a picture of the front of the house! I plan to keep these pictures in my planning notebook for 2006 so when the decorations come out, so will my pictures. I know it will pay off next November!!
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I am going to add reminders of how much food to make. For instance every year I make a sweetpotatoe casserol and have so much left over that it goes to waste. So I am making notes to cut back on the amount. Also fudge, every year I have way too much.. This year I made a full batch then gave half away and I still have fudge left over!!!! No one in my family seems to eat it...
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I will also be listing what cookies went over well, and what quantities worked, what quantities didn't. This should help for baking time next year.
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I need to plan my Christmas decorations better - I had a miniature tree with battery operated lights as a table decoration in my dining room, on boxing day I cleared the table because I had to do some sewing and the tree kind of got lost I've since moved it into my living room which is much better as that's the room where I spend my evenings so I appreciate the lights more.
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If there is some trick, tip, or assembly instruction that is needed for your ornaments, trees, or displays, write it down! Put special assembly instructions right in the box with the item. Number the sequence of pieces with masking tape and a magic marker. Include reminders in the holiday Control Journal.
I have a huge Nativity set that I setup in our china cabinet each year. Additionally, I have a lovely porcelain angel tree topper that I like to add into the display. This year, I could not remember how to build her sturdy, upright support for this angel. So, my January task, as I put things away is to try and figure out the support for her display, and then WRITE it down both in my holiday control journal, and as a slip of paper in her box. I really missed having this angel in my display, but she needs protecting, and without a trusty base, she had to stay wrapped up this year.
We put a little instruction slip in the box with my lighted, musical snowglobe centerpiece that reminds me when I unpack it, that there is a switch on the bottom to turn on the lights in the castle windows. It's pretty without them turned on during our party dinner, but it's magical to have them lit!
There is a table top tree for my silver ornaments, and the 6 poles that act as the tree trunk have to be assembled in a special sequence or the tree wobbles. A little piece of masking tape around each pole as it comes down, gets numbered 1-6 so that I can reassemble it next year without wasting time trying to get a sequence of same-sized poles to screw together steadily. I suspect it has something to do with the threads working particularly well in combination with the other piece's socket. The first year took ages to assemble. After using numbered tags, the assembly has been smooth and fast. No longer frustrating. And, that's what the Journal, notes, and numbers do - remove stress and saves time.
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I take photos of all my holiday displays both inddors and outdoors.
Most are kept in a computer document folder and several are uploaded to my photo gallery here at OC.
The photo of my Nativity here at OC comes in handy every year.
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Today I am going through all of my notebooks and updating them, weeding out things I don't need (some of the receipts - like for candy and such) and add in a few new items. One thing I want to do is check out tickets for the Trans-Syberian Orchestra EARLY. It was too late to get them in our area when I realized that they were coming. So I will add that to my early "to do" list.
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I am adding a note re: shopping.
Where I found the best selection of stocking stuffers.
Who had the special ingredients I needed for holiday cooking.
Where were they marking items down before Christmas.
Who had the best selection/prices after Christmas.
Which stores to hold off on purchases because they put out coupons/gift cards in Dec. that I could have used.
Which stores were really picked over by mid-Dec- so shop there earlier!
Start a list of traditional items I always buy.
For my kids I always buy them PJ's, pj pants, boxer/ cami sets, socks, books, perfume/cologne. I can start shopping for these items early while selection is best.
Also for food items- frozen spinach, Knorr soup mix, cream cheese, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, gingerale, turtles, christmas mints, egg nog, wine/beer, punch ingredients, Chex cereal, pretzels. There are some dishes I am always asked to make. Why not buy the ingredients early before the stores start running out. Can also pick them up a little each week so my budget stays intact!
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I'm going to add a page listing what I've given everyone each year, so I can remember (as I'm giving some people gifts that grow, like an ornament collection, this is particularly important- this year, I couldn't remember if I'd given my SIL a pickle ornament yet!) and also note down any ideas I've had for next year.
I'm also going to update my recipe file (I think I'm actually going to shift that section into a seperate notebook) with which recipes are really good and how much they make and so on.
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I keep a list of what I give everyone from year to year, and it is VERY helpful. If you do a lot of re-gifting, it would probably also be helpful to note what that person gave you, in order to avoid any future embarrassments!!
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I also keep a list of what I give people from year to year, also. I can get stuck in a rut, otherwise. I do find it very helpful, to be able to go back over what we have given for gifts. I like the ideas that Bonnie had regarding shopping. The other notes that I put into my notebook this year, were the Christmas hours of a couple of stores.
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I am adding an inventory list of wrapping supplies.
paper- color & occasion
tissue
ribbons- colors & sizes
gift bags- color, size and occasion
tape
gift tags
I stock pile supplies, but don't always remember exactly what I have when shopping. Hopefully, this will keep me more organized when gift giving through out the year.
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I have a list of decorations I need to replace.
One of our tree skirts is getting a bit shabby, new fingertip towels for the guest bath and so on.
I'll be on the hunt all year, but if needed I will have a list for shopping when the items are out on the shelves next holiday season.
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The best thing I added is my inventory of my gift closet. I listed all the things I bought after Christmas shopping plus the few I had left over from this year. Always had the gifts but not the inventory. If I use any for birthdays etc I will mark them off as I use them.
arty: 
