Cover The Stuff you Forgot, and How to Handle the Christmas Crowds

   

I sit here and sip my coffee, I'm completely thrown off because I usually work Monday's and I'm actually off today so this is super weird to me. But it has the wheels in my head spinning on what to accomplish today, while I have my husband with me because he is off today too. So What I am assigning to myself is exactly what I will assign to you as well.


     We've been doing a lot of list making in our planning process, and some stuff may have fallen through the cracks, or you may have put them off. For example, I haven't done my linen inventory and I know I need to because a lot of our towels became Alice's towels this fall. I also have a few things that I've let go longer than I would have liked, like I need specific boxes for some of the gifts this year, and I still haven't picked up our light timer. When I went grocery shopping the other day I did get all my slow cooker hot chocolate stuff. So remember that really early on list I said to make and check, and then remake? Now would be the time to remake that list, see what needs to be covered and see what you can cover now.

     For me, after this week, I need to psyche myself out to go shopping. This Friday is Black Friday, so Christmas Shopping is getting kicked into high gear for EVERYONE after that. I love the crowds when I'm working because I love always being at a steady pace, but when I'm shopping I enjoy quiet. If you're like me and you need to mentally prepare after this week, here is what I do.

     1. I never go when I have no time, it's a day off thing so I'm not rushed, and I remind myself I can take my time
     2. Take a deep breath, figure out where you want to go in what order and just tackle that plan
     3. Make sure you're comfortable. I'm in sneakers for this, and very likely yoga pants. I'm also avoiding wearing my jacket because there is a lot more body heat.
     4. Make it fun. I'll grab like a gingerbread latte while I'm in one of these crowds because while I wait, I can calmly enjoy my holiday drink
     5. This one is personal to me, but I feel like I'm not alone in this. I hear people say they hate Christmas, and I'm not sure that's true. They have let Christmas stress them out, and they hate stress. I've somehow held onto my childlike excitement for Christmas, and never want to be stressed about it ever because that would just contribute to the problem I always see. So I remind myself to not be like that.