BigPinkCookie

For the past … oh, I don’t know how many years anymore … I have had problems getting into the holiday spirit. Big problems. First, consider the fact that it was in the 70s today in Houston, 10 days before Christmas. Nothing says holiday shopping like seeing people out in short sleeve shirts and flip flops as they shop. Gets me in the holiday spirit every time. Next, there is the problem with just being too busy to get it all done – the past two years, I’ve had finals to deal with the first two weeks of December. Decorating a tree? Not high on the list of priorities.

This year, having the Yale Street Market on the first weekend of December and wearing our Santa hats while we spent the day out in the cold, nippy air helped some. But I still didn’t really have time to think about the holidays. I have to admit, I don’t like to put the tree up and the lights out right after Thanksgiving, so the fact that it isn’t up doesn’t bother me at all. It drives me crazy that Christmas appears earlier and earlier every single year. This year, we’ll be gone, so we’re not putting up the tree. Or I may set it up, but leave off the ornaments. Less for the cats to mess with while we are away. We are putting lights out in the yard, since it already looks like Christmas threw up on our street, and we don’t want to be the “dark house” on the block.

I don’t know, it just sort of hit me when I read Kristen’s post about failing at Christmas, which lead me back to Julia’s post about what Christmas would be like if she ruled the world, and S t a c i ‘s comments about her plans to make Christmas easier, and well… it sort of all rolled together in my head.

I’m not going to beat myself up about Christmas anymore.

– I like to shop in person, online just doesn’t have that same feel for me. I will shop wisely though, and shop early like I did this year. No stress shopping.
– I will wrap my gifts early too for a change. Matter of fact, I will be doing some of that tomorrow. No more staying up late, late at night on Christmas Eve wrapping presents.
– I will make handmade gifts. And while Jason will probably still get “big” gifts, I might just make the handmade gifts THE presents in the future. (Not this year, because I’m not ready for it yet.) We have plenty of “stuff” and don’t need a lot of “things” – so I will give things made with love.
– I will try to spend at least part of one day baking Christmas treats, and make a point of giving some of those goodies to others. – I will also consider all Christmas treats to be calorie free and not nag anyone (myself included) about enjoying a few more than they should otherwise eat. It is the holidays, so the holiday treats should be enjoyed. (Mike & Jason will cheer when and if they read this.)
– Christmas is not about spending crazy amounts of money. Or about the number of packages you open. It is about spending time with family. I will try to focus on that.
– I will mail Christmas cards. Once I find my address list.
– I will accept that sometimes those cards may go out late, and that is ok. As long as I get them out to people before the 12 days of Christmas run out, I won’t consider myself failing at the card sending.
– I will work to educate people about the fact that the 12 days of Christmas are AFTER Christmas, not before.
– I will spend time watching my favorite holiday movies, including Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Miracle on 34th Street.
– I will also sing the “I’m Mr. Heat Miser… I’m mister HOT!” song a bit too much, but that is ok.
– I will put holiday music on and spend time enjoying it.
– I will celebrate the spirit of Santa Claus … GIVING without expecting anything in return.
* Most important of all, I will enjoy spending time celebrating with family and friends, with good food and good times. Because in the end? THAT is what the memories are made of.

Now where did my Santa hat go? I think I need to spend some more time wearing it…

Care to guess what week it is? Finals week! I only have one exam, but it is in Trig, and while I was doing so well at the beginning of the semester, I started to slide somewhere around the time that my tutor (aka Mike) went to The Holland. So now I am playing catch up as I get ready for the test on Thursday.

I haven’t been just studying lately though! Here is a quick rundown of the past few days:

Thursday:
– Dinner meeting with Jeff to discuss potential work opportunities for the new year. Wheee!

– Finally made it to the Central Houston Stitch & Bitch! I didn’t stitch much though, as it was a long day with papers due that afternoon for psych and so forth, plus the late night podcasting the night before. It was fabulous to get to see everyone though, which was the main reason why I went. I *heart* the SnB gals!

Friday:
– Went to Twisted Yarns for the gumball sale and got my entire purchase for 25% off!

– A visit to the hair salon meant a fresh cut and color for me, just in time for the holidays! As much as I hate spending the money for it to be colored at the salon, it was so worth it.

– Kohl’s had a “late night” sale from 9pm to midnight, so we took Jason shopping for jeans and I managed to get some new clothes for myself too. I’m just so tired of looking in my closet and feeling “meh” about everything in there. Especially when it comes to winter clothes – with a short winter season here, I tend to hold on to pieces for a long time because they don’t get worn out. It is time to refresh the wardrobe!

Saturday:
– Mike & I had looked at the new Knitty before I went to the gumball sale on Friday, and I realized that he needs to knit again. He really likes the binary scarf (I suggested Encore instead of Red Heart – that way he can wash it and it won’t be quite so scratchy) and the slingshot coffee holder (Dale of Norway Baby Ull, no intarsia, just dark gray and machine washable), so I offered to go pick up yarn for both. Back to Twisted Yarns I went, picking up some Noro Silk Garden Light also for the Argosy scarf too. I managed to get the 50% OFF GUMBALL! I was beyond thrilled!

– Afterwards, I went to the Kohl’s over near the shop as I had found a lightweight jacket at my Kohl’s that I liked, but they didn’t have the right size. The store in Spring had one though, so I picked up that and another top, plus some jeans for my Mom.

– Then I made a “quick” trip to Ross that turned into a long trip to Ross. I found a convertible coat for Jason that is a winter coat with a lighter coat inside of it. Perfect for taking to Kentucky or wearing in Houston, as it has many options. I also finally managed to find some sweaters for myself that are not black! Plus Christmas presents for Mike, Jason, and my Dad, plus gifts to take in for the toy drive at school. I managed to find a lot of good things at great prices, which was perfect!

– I drove home, crashed for a bit, and then it was back out again for dinner with Mike & Jason at Lupe Tortillas (YUM!) and a quick Target run. I bought gift wrap because I am actually going to wrap gifts NOW instead of waiting for the night before Christmas. Shocking!

Sunday:
– I had not driven over to Old Town Spring enough recently, so I went over there again to meet up with Kathy as she headed out of town and went back to Dallas. We met up at Wunsche Bros. and it was great to have a chance to catch up some in person. Plus the burger was delicious!

– I got to meet Hanna’s daughter, Emma! Oh goodness, she is SO sweet, and beautiful, and tiny! Jason was 8lb, 10oz when he was born, so any baby under 8lbs always looks so small to me. Poor Hanna, I convinced her to try nudie baby photos under the Christmas tree, and once we stripped Emma down she was fussy about being naked. Hanna was holding her to comfort her, and Emma peed all over her shirt. Oops! Oh well, I’m sure it isn’t the worst that Hanna will have to deal with over the next 18 years or so. Really, how can you resist the baby bum photos though? The will get some tweaking in Photoshop, and then I will send them her way.

Today:
– In addition to the joys of Trig, we discovered a leak under one of the sinks in our bathroom. Not only did it get everything in the cabinet wet though, it also spread water under the cabinet across the bathroom floor and out onto our bedroom carpet. What a mess. My Mom has a carpet cleaner called the Central Home Services carpet dry cleaning so I sent Mike over to pick up, and it worked well to get a lot of the water up. Crisis solved.

Whew! No wonder I feel tired! It has been a busy, busy weekend. Now it is time to hit the books again!

Oh goodness. The laughter. I think I have tears in my eyes. That is just fabulous!