Four Months From Today...

 

Four months from today is Christmas Eve. I am so conflicted about the upcoming Christmas season. On the one hand I'm so excited for the joy of the season. On the other my life is so topsy-turvey right now that I sometimes dive into anxiety.

We put our current house on the market at the end of May. We sold it at the end of June. The CASH buyer dropped out this past Sunday. That's right, 20 days into escrow, long after the inspection period, they just changed their mind. Ugh.

We had already contacted the utilities, canceled the pool service, signed a contract on an apartment, and paid for renter's insurance. Sigh.

Now we start all over. 

And to top it all off, it now looks like our new house may not be done until January 2023. Really big sigh.

What does this have to do with Christmas you may wonder?

I have grandkids already clamoring about what are we going to do for Family Christmas? Where will we be for Family Christmas? We are going to have Family Christmas, aren't we?

It gives me joy to know that they really enjoy that tradition. It gives me pause to think about how I'm going to pull it off. My tentative plan right now (other than praying for a miracle that we'll SOMEHOW be in our new home) is to have Family Christmas at one of my girls' homes. They can provide the location, but I'll still plan the event.

To that end I'm continuing on my usual path towards a stress-free holiday. I've been shopping, wrapping, and storing gifts. I'm completely finished with gifts for three Grands and two adult kids. I'm disappointed that I won't be decorating this year, but oh well, that's life.

My oldest granddaughter, Sunny was over the other day and, out of the blue, asked if she could plan the Family Christmas menu. I said of course! And she did. So I texted my daughters with the menu and their food assignments. They laughed. I'm thrilled that the 13 year old is showing that kind of interest! haha

Four months from today my Family Christmas will be behind me. Christmas Eve is typically hosted by my SIL. Christmas Day is typically just Dan and I. To be honest, I ususally start taking Christmas decor down on Christmas Day (surreptitiously, as it irritates Dan!) 

Maybe I'll be in my new home (probably not), maybe I'll be in a tiny apartment (probably) but either way I'll be with my family and that's the joy for me.

This year's gift stash

Christmas Time's a'Comin'🎅

I'm not sure why this list of tips promotes so many retailers, but you can ignore that and still get some good ideas for a stress-free Christmas. 

August is not too early to start to plan. When it was just the six of us in our little family, I started Christmas gift shopping in May. It was the start of our family birthday season and a good time to collect wish lists from our kids.

Although our family birthday season has grown to be year round (except for April and November) I still keep up the tradition of starting to ask for wish lists in May. Most of my adult kids give me wish lists all year long, which I love!

Another thing I generally do in August is to begin planning for family Christmas events. I make lists of food I might serve, goodies I might make, and games we might play. The lists start out pretty long, but I whittle them down as the holidays approach.

This month I'm going to choose my Christmas postcard and focus on getting the right photos to use. I'm also going to start a draft annual Christmas letter.

What are you going to do to achieve a stress-free Christmas?