An organized holiday

Every year during the hectic holiday season, I always say to myself ... "Self, next year you are going to have an organized and magical holiday season."  I clip out articles on how to have a stress free holiday.  I put notes on my Outlook calendar to remind me of things I might forget.  I say "next year I'm not going to make all these different cookies and just concentrate on a few favorites."  I have visions of sitting around the evenings before Christmas watching "Frosty" and "The Polar Express".  I think about what it will be like to drive around and look at the holiday lights, to finally see the lights in Delaware Park, to see Niagara Falls decorated for the holidays.

And every year I find myself knee deep in cooking ingredients, recipes everywhere.  Yards and yards of ribbon to change up the Christmas tree only to find that bows on Christmas trees are apparently out and no one bothered to tell me.

Here it is 3 days before Thanksgiving.  Nick is working so I'll be on my own to get everything prepared.  Pies have been ordered, food has been bought and I am still ripping out recipes from magazines for some glorious cranberry-orange relish, like as if anyone will eat that.  Why, oh why, can't I just be satisfied to slap a can of cranberry sauce in the banana boat dish reserved only for cranberry sauce and call it a day.

Yesterday I wanted to put up my little tree in the living room and spent all day looking for the box of lights and ornaments for it.  Do you think I could find them anywhere?  Nope, brought up boxes one by one filled with all kinds of decorations but the ones I was looking for.  So I thought, might as well put them up.  So, the inside of my house is pretty much decorated, but the bench we had to move from the front hall in the "Christmas tree shuffle" is still sitting in front of the door.  Oh, and I did find the ornaments and lights for my little tree - they were in a box marked material and chair cover pattern!

So, looks like once again I won't be going out on the biggest drinking night of the year (yeah, like that would happen anyway!) and I'll be home trying to get my house cleaned.

And if you happen to be coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner, just ignore the fact that when you ring the doorbell that I will probably answer the door in my sweat suit with a dustrag thrown over my shoulder!