After Christmas Notes for your Notebook-2011

[girlsinmo]

Diedra started this thread last year & I loved it. So much that I just spent the last hour finding it & re-reading it LOL

So I thought I'd start the thread for this year. Now's the time to write up some notes for your notebook so you remember next year. What worked and what did not.

 

[girlsinmo]

As I re-read the thread from last year I was reminded last Christmas was also simple with a few decorations but for us it was "enough"

I was right on track with my holiday savings until our fire but I will have a savings plan again this year.

Since we're in a new home, I don't have to decluter but I do have to be sure not to bring clutter into it. I will follow plans to help keep the house clean using simple means, like the plans here & flylady.

We had ham with all the trimmings for Christmas dinner. Ham is easier to cook and for me that is one more thing that helps keep the stress down. We also brought store bought pies, again a simplier way to get the meal together. BTW Edwards Pecan Pie is very good.

We didn't go to a restaurant again on Christmas Eve. However, we did order in. We had pizza's & I popped a couple of the pies in the oven. Again simple, relaxed & good all around. Which left more time for enjoying family.

Looking forward to reading others notes.

 

[missjane]

Thanks, Tricia, for starting this. I have some notes in my physcial notebook, but I'll put what I can remember here, too.

Things to do differently:
Do not plan anything for Saturdays during the month of October, November, and December (JUST SAY NO!!!!!)
Decorate earlier
Keep better track of spending (stocking stuffer.....ugh!)
Buy plastic shoe box containers for stocking stuffers all year
Buy stocking stuffers all year (They always blow my budget!)

Things to buy for next year:
[x]name tags
[x]green Christmas balls

Gift ideas for next year:
tool box for DGS5
cookbook for DS and Dsis
Wii game for DH

Talk to DS about doing Christmas with them at a different day/time.

 

[DawnSu]

ohh I didn't get much done after the first of Nov. with moms cancer & now hwe pneumonia. BUt I know God has it all under control.... I never did get my big tree up.. had a small one up in bathroom & the one up in my dining room on top of my china cabinet. lol will b better next year.... I have to grt things under controll again, while we r home for a few more weeks till round 2 begins.... But I am going to document alot while we r under going this journey....
i have been doing alot of notebook work these past few days....
Good Luck with all & Happy New Year...

 

[aggy]

This year was the first year that I was a procrastinator when it came to buying gifts. Oh I will NEVER do that again. NEVER!

Last night I started a list of things I want to do for 2012

Things I need to get for next year:

- gift bags
- gift boxes
- tissue paper

I have plenty of wrapping paper.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

About the only thing I have to note this year is to be sure I set the alarm on the meat thermometer. I was just waiting and waiting for it to go off when I thought to check it. It was up a few degrees above what I like my Prime Rib to be at but was still excellent (if not a little over done for my taste).

Even with all the days I had to spend with DD at ER and her running over here so often I did not feel stressed. Most everything was done and the other things just fell into place as Christmas came.

We have had the warmest weather this year for our part of the country. I believe we set a record high the other day. It was above 50 and we only had a dusting of snow for it to melt. I worry some of my plants will not make it to spring without their protective layer of snow.

I didn't like making my candy the day of our Christmas but it did keep me from eating it. Which reminds me I think I'll have some coffee and candy.

My prayers and blessings to all of you.

 

[appleton]

Well, I have some things I want to work out before next December...

I must remember that lists only work if you actually have them w/you & take the time to read them at store! Couldn't remember the size of gift boxes I needed since my list was at home yesterday. Gotta get the list in my purse!

Waiting to find a better (perfect) gift is a BIG mistake. Buy the good gift early (October/November); it can always be returned if the perfect gift appears later. Know return policies in case.
Buy a few stocking stuffers throughout the year. These are easy to store & one less thing to shop for in November & December.
There are gifts I can shop for early & I should get these as soon at possible. My gift bin & spreadsheet will keep them "safe" until December.

Why do I wait for my calendar say December 1 to decorate? I know from previous years I need to start the weekend after Thanksgiving, but put it off since it feels too earlier. I really struggled this year to get anything decorated.

Even with these issues, we had a really GOOD Christmas. Last week was hectic, but things came together. I definitely want a plan for a relaxing 2012 Christmas. Looks like I have some good starting points & can't wait to see what others will be working on.

Oh, one last thing ~ DECLUTTER all year long. I've worked on this & need to continue. Definitely brings more peace to each day. I really wanted things neat & tidy even though we didn't host a get together, but didn't quite get there.

 

[ejagno]

ohh I didn't get much done after the first of Nov. with moms cancer & now hwe pneumonia. BUt I know God has it all under control.... I never did get my big tree up.. had a small one up in bathroom & the one up in my dining room on top of my china cabinet. lol will b better next year.... I have to grt things under controll again, while we r home for a few more weeks till round 2 begins.... But I am going to document alot while we r under going this journey....
i have been doing alot of notebook work these past few days....
Good Luck with all & Happy New Year...

Dawn, I can wholeheartedly understand exactly what you are going through. My Christmas came to a screeching halt around August and we buried my MIL November 17th....cancer. The rest of the holidays were almost to sad to bear.

All in all I think everything turned out as good as could be expected and then some.

We started a new tradition of getting the grandbabies over here to decorate cookies. They had a blast but we do need to be better organized next year. I've made notes in my book.

We took our Christmas photo at the beginning of October and had the cards done, addressed and stamped. This is definitely a tradition to keep.

One thing I keep procrastinating on is a Christmas savings account. I will definitely implement an "Event" savings which will be contributed to weekly. Let's face it, Christmas pales expense wise when you add in all of the birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and such that you buy for all year. The money goes into an envelope and if I find a wonderful gift on sale for one of these events then it's there throughout the year.

 

[Christmaslvr]

I don't have a whole lot of notes to make for this year...just to update my card list and to make a note on my calendar to send our friends in England their card about a week earlier. I'm sure I'll have some things to add though...

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

We have yet to have our Christmas with the boys and my in laws, that will be on Saturday but some things I know right now that I want to do are:

1. Decorate earlier! I told DH that for my birthday (Nov. 13) I wanted to start getting the Christmas crates out of storage. The boys will not be with us next Thanksgiving so I'd love to be decorated by Thanksgiving so I can enjoy it.

2. I did really well with wrapping this year. I started by using the wrapping parties that Annie set up for us and then in November I spent some time each evening wrapping. I was 99% done wrapping by December 10.

3. I did pretty well with shopping this year as well. The first weekend in December DH and I made a list of the last items to get and did marathon shopping that weekend. I would like to do that again. It was so nice not to HAVE to shop after that.

4. Again, save most of the stocking stuffer shopping for November/December. If I buy too far ahead I end up getting more and spending more.

5. Continue to keep the gift spreadsheet up to date throughout the year.

6. Try to do one night of Christmas Cheer as a family each week during December.

7. Try, once again, to get further on the HGP so there is less to do in December cleaning wise.

8. Bake with the boys!!!! I did not do any again this year.

9. Christmas cards: During the year update my Christmas card list and addresses. Start addressing the cards in August/September.

I'm sure there will be more to add after our Christmas celebration this weekend.

 

[Gingerbug]

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:

 

[Christmaslvr]

I don't have a whole lot of notes to make for this year...just to update my card list and to make a note on my calendar to send our friends in England their card about a week earlier. I'm sure I'll have some things to add though...

Actually I do need to get back to making my cards all throughout the year! this year I left it to the last minute and I was down to the wire...NOT doing that again. Every year I say I'm going to make 5 each Rudolph Day, but that hasn't happened yet. 2012 will be the year!

 

[AnnieClaus]

Ginger- Very good de-brief!!!!!

Annie

 

[Farmermom4]

After my daughters wedding on November 19th. nothing stressed me! We had Thanksgiving the next week, which went well and everything for Christmas just fell into place. I did my shopping later than usual, but I had lists from the kids by then. I baked one day which was fine, simplified my food choices for Christmas Eve which was great.
I even had time to wrap all the stocking stuffers which I never do! Next year I plan on saving more for Christmas, that was hard this year with wedding expenses!! I want to decorate a bit more earlier, I just did the basics but we did get outside lights up, which made me very happy. House was clean enough so all in all a great Christmas, all the kids were together Christmas morning so everyone was happy!!

 

[ChristmasRose]

This was my worst-organized Christmas to date! It seemed that every time I turned around, my mother had a doctor's appt., or needed something at the market or Walgreen's just after I had been there. I was just in perpetual stress mode. (I had cataract surgery a couple of days ago, and it was not the piece of cake that some had said it was.) My husband kept changing his mind about what he wanted for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners. Since he does most of the cooking, I don't feel I can do a lot of complaining there! I never got some of the decorations up that I wanted to, and the harp music that I had planned for church got scratched for duets with other people instead. That was very good for me, but still more stress. I wish I could say that I'm glad it's over, but I'm not. I feel like I missed it! Oh, well, no use crying over spilt milk. I have already bought a gift for my sister-in-law for next Christmas, so I'd better get going in my notebook.

 

[jackfrosty]

OH this Thread just makes me SOOO glad to be here!!!!! I learn so much from every single post! I'm going to come back here when I have a bit more time and add some of this great stuff to my notebook-Thank you Thank you!

 

[Colleen in PA]

My Notes from 2011

1. I need to separate the boy's gifts in storage earlier to avoid balance issues. I had both of their gifts in the same tub and when I went to wrap I realized I had more for my little guy than DS6.

2. I had sorted through all of my stocking stuffers around October into file boxes for each family or recipient. That helped tremendously with wrapping! I was able to bring up one box a night and wrap after the boys were in bed...and got to watch a Christmas DVD, too!

3. Host annual cousin dinner and party earlier...we got togethr in mid-December this year (vs. Dec 22 last year) and it was much less hectic. Getting the big tree up in time was a challenge, though! I ordered a prepared meal from the supermarket - complete ham dinner and just had to reheat it. Definitely a winner!

4. Quiet Christmas Eve at home - it was nice to stay home and play with the boys...all the wrapping and baking was done. Our guests were able to relax and make themselves at home. We only left home for church at 4pm. this was only possible due to MHH and the HGP...I need to follow it even closer this year!

5. Baking - after several years of skipping it (not by choice) I finally made the time to bake - hosting a cookie exchange sort of forces the issue! mom and I spent 2 days baking our favorites. I want to plan for a couple of baking days in 2012...need to put them on the calendar early!

6. Wrapping - I finished the week before Christmas, but I'd like to be done earlier this year. I missed most of the MHH wrapping parties in 2011, but I hope to do better this year.