Monday, November 20, 2006

monday...

and gearing up for the holidays ahead. tomorrow is the start of my "busy season". between tomorrow and january 8th, i will:
  • attend two thanksgiving dinners.
  • devote an entire weekend to volunteering, photographing and filming my mom's choir's annual christmas concert.
  • buy stuff for 5 more christmas gifts - and then make them!
  • celebrate 5 birthdays, including my own.
  • buy christmas gifts for my husband.
  • bake two batches of magic bars, one batch of rice crispy treats, and at least one other edible goodie to round out the remaining gifts.
  • wrap and assemble all gifts and goodie baskets.
  • get a christmas tree.
  • decorate the house.
  • write out, address & mail christmas cards. (luckily, i've already made them all!)
  • visit matt's family once a week.
  • teach sunday school (though just once).
  • celebrate christmas three times - with three different "sets" of family.
  • finish a handful of projects for upcoming wedding.
  • attend, photograph and execute said wedding.
  • help plan & execute company holiday luncheon.
  • shop with donations for a family our company will adopt via salvation army for the holidays.
  • proof countless holiday & wedding photos.
  • strive to squeeze in as much girltime with my best friend, who will be home from school, as is possible.
  • spend a little time each day working on my christmas art journal.
  • celebrate the new year.
  • turn 24.
  • pack up christmas decoration and do my best to return to life as normal, without feeling that post-holiday slump.


and yet, i still love this season. i love the busy-ness, and for the most part, i don't terribly mind the craziness - as long as it's buffered with plenty of no-pressure enjoyment of the sights and sounds of the season. i'm ready for it all to begin.

saturday, i got a wild hair and did my annual pre-holiday deep cleaning. i don't do spring cleaning - instead, i spend a few hours just before the christmas decorations go up. i scrub windows, inside and out (yes, in november, at 8pm, in my pyjamas), i vaccum the dust and grit from the fine crevices of my coffee table, i damp-mop the wood floors to collect any extra dust that my vaccum missed, and i pull out my favorite high-powered cleaner - vinegar - for windowsills and ledges. i get a little crazy, locked up in my 852 square feet by myself with all of those lovely fumes, and when everything is sparkling, my husband returns home with an oreo mcflurry - extra, extra, extra oreo. yep, i love my little holiday cleaning tradition. and when we get home next weekend from our thanksgiving away, we can put away the autumn decorations and pull out the christmas stuff - no deep-cleaning necessary. because that's one thing i've already crossed off my list. nothing like starting the season ahead of the curve.

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