Counting Down to Christmas

Today is New Year's Eve. We have almost a full week left of Christmas. This is a good time to review all the cards, letters and pictures that you received. If they are not dated, date the ones that you keep. Put people's last names and the dates on photos that you are keeping. Print out the letters and photos friends sent that you want to keep and make sure they are labeled too. It may seem obsessive, but it will prevent the twenty years from now mystery of "who were these people"--unless of course that you are so organized that you scrapbook and in that case that is a nice activity for New Year's Day.

Happy New Year.

3 days. The Fourth Sunday of Advent. Light all four candles on your Advent wreath. Stay inside if you live where the weather is bitter cold and snowy. Take care and stay well. Check on neighbors who might be in need of help.

2 days! How quickly the days have flown by since I began this year's tips. Christmas is just two days away. Enjoy. If there is a cookie that isn't baked, remember the weekend in between the holidays will be a good time to fill the house with the comforting warmth and smell of baking. If there is a present that isn't wrapped that isn't going to be delivered until after Christmas, let it wait. Everything doesn't have to be done. There will be twelve more days, after all. Take time to relax, enjoy, count blessing and think about what this holy season is truly about.

1 day left to Christmas Eve. Take a deep breath and do only that which you can actually get done. Count your blessings and pray in thanksgiving. Pause to look at your Christmas tree--and if you don't have one perhaps you can find one to visit that isn't in a mall. If you are by yourself, think about volunteering in one of the local charity programs that are distributing food and gifts right now. All of us have something to share and something to feel blessed about no matter how small it is.

Christmas Eve. Enjoy the celebration and the time with family. May you be blessed with all the joys of this holy, holiday season.

10 days. Light the pink or rose candle on the Advent wreath and pause in the bustle to enjoy Advent a bit more. If you haven't written your Christmas letter, now might be a good time.

9 days. Can you believe it? It is so close. Now is a good time to start wrapping presents. In the past I have only given positive tips, but today's tips have a note of negativity. Don't leave your home with drapes open showing your decorations. (Don't leave tree lights on either, since it isn't safe.) Don't put the packages under the tree until the last minute. These are tips I have heard every year since I was a child from police and fire departments. They are good tips that will keep us safe and help our overstretched emergency services personnel to have a happier holiday season too.

8 days. Mail packages and cards if you haven't done so already. Stay warm and dry. Take time to be grateful for your blessings and have something warming and soothing to eat and drink.

7 days. A week from today is Christmas Eve. This might be a good time to check all your lists and delete anything that can't be done by then, or see what can be held over to the twelve days of Christmas. Christmas is a season. It's time to plan those days too.

6 days and the season of Christmas will begin. Do you have good times planned for all the the days? Don't forget that it isn't over in one big rush on one big day. By the time that it truly is over on January 7, the day after Epiphany, the days will be just starting to get longer too. So take your time and enjoy the next three weeks.

5 days. Make the bows fuller and fluffier this year as you wrap up the presents, but don't apologize if they are simpler, smaller and less expensive than previous years' gifts. A present is a present. Your thought and love has gone into choosing it or making it and into wrapping. Give it with a smile and a hug. We can all pray (work) so that next year will be better. We don't need to apologize.

17 days. A little more than two weeks and Christmas will be here. Light the second purple candle on your Advent wreath and take a deep breath. Don't forget that Christmas is truly a season not just a day and that you will have twelve days after December 24. Plan some activities for those days now.

16 days. Have you scheduled a volunteer activity yet? It isn't too late. Food banks are especially stretched this year, hot meal programs need help and churches have Giving Trees with present requests to fill. Lend a hand and see how you can help in your community.

15 days. The deadline for standard shipping is fast approaching, so if you don't want to pay a premium for shipping finish your online shopping soon. Before you do, make sure that your security is up to date and that you have run a virus scan recently on your computer.

14 days. Two weeks from tonight is Christmas Eve. Don't forget that Christmas day is the first of twelve days that make up the whole Christmas season. Spread out your activities, especially family activities and visits with friends. By the time that the whole season is completed the days will be getting a little longer.

13 days. Two weeks from today is Christmas. Now is a good time to take a deep breath and reassess your plan. Is there anything that you have forgotten that is really essential? Is there anything that you can save for another year that will save time this year? Stay calm and stay focused on the true meaning of the holiday and on family time.

12 days. Less than two weeks now. Do you have plenty of activities planned to keep children busy once school is out or when they come to visit? Old-fashioned board games, Uno and coloring can still be fine activities that engage more than one child at a time.

11 days. Saturday is the traditional chore day for many of us. Sprucing up for Christmas can be begun now--wash the guest bedding if you are having company, check the table linens that you are going to use if you are hosting Christmas dinner. Does anybody polish silver any more? This can be a good chore for the children to do--works of some of that energy from being indoors too much. Don't forget to take a walk, if the weather permits. Right around dusk as everyone turns on their outdoor lights, might be a good time for everyone to bundle up and go out for that walk.

23 days. If you are participating in cyber Monday, please consider such venues as cafepress and Etsy where many artists and craftsman show their designs and wares. Consider as well your friends and neighbors with small businesses. We need your business and appreciate you so very much.

22 days. Write some cards and print your Christmas letter while you wait for the packages that you ordered on "cyber Monday". Enjoy communicating with family and friends. Make a place for the cards that you are beginning to receive so that you can re-read and savor them at leisure.

21 days. If you are receiving Christmas letters and pictures from friends, saving recipes and other materials off the Internet and collecting Christmas goodies, consider setting up a folder labeled, Christmas 2008. Then be sure TO BACK IT UP to a CD, flash drive or your external hard-drive!

20 days. Have you scheduled a baking night and do you have all your supplies? Make a list of what you want to bake, go through the recipes and make a shopping list, then go online if you live in an area where groceries can be delivered. Just make sure that you are home when they deliver! (Writing the rest of your Christmas cards while you wait?)

19 If you are planning to send baked goodies remember that bar cookies ship most easily. Wrap cookies in twos in plastic wrap and then in thin bubble wrap. Homemade goodies are especially appreciated by family members who can't come home this year and by college students cramming for exams before they come home.

18 days. This is a good weekend to look for craft and artisan fairs in your area. You will find lovely, unusual and beautifully made items from local crafts people as well as cards. Look at churches, schools and senior centers. Look too for Scout troops selling wreaths and at the local Farmer's Markets if they are still open in your area. Many items to fill out a gift basket or two can be found at these venues. Then come home to a warm spot to write Christmas cards or bake cookies.

Offer to teach someone to knit, crochet or sew. Or teach another craft or skill.

Help someone clean a closet, a cupboard or organize the Christmas decorations after Christmas so that they will be easier to find and put up next time.

Help someone set up or get caught up with filing.

Cook a meal or two. Offer to come help with the Christmas baking and the cleanup. The recipient supplies the ingredients, you give the time.

Babysitting. This could include sitting with someone who is ill or needs attending while the family caregiver has a chance to run errands or even go for coffee with a friend.

Help with someone's garden. You may have to come back in the spring to fulfill the present, so don't forget!

37 days. Christmas seems far away yet with Thanksgiving just around the corner. As you prepare to shop for Thanksgiving dinner be ready to take advantage of holiday baking supplies and if you can make one grand shopping trip. You will have more time in the week after Thanksgiving. Don't forget the candles for the Advent wreath.

36 days. Is your Christmas card list in order from last year? Can you use email to share your annual letter and greetings with some folks who are far away? There are many fine sources of email cards, too that will cut down on the expenses of mailed cards.

35 days. Find a large blank sheet of paper or tag board and draw a calendar that includes the days from today until Christmas. Give yourself big squares that you can write in so that this can be a work-sheet, planner.

34 days. Think about taking your family picture over Thanksgiving. With everyone home for the holiday, you will be able to get a great shot and you can even send it to an online photo service and have the pictures mailed back to you. I have added my favorite, Adorama pix, to the links below.

33 days. Hard to believe that Christmas is so close. This might be a good weekend to get out the music for Advent and Christmas and chose something sooothing to listen too. It's a good time to go to the library too and make sure that if you need to be on a list to borrow some of the most popular DVDs,videos and books that you get your bid in early. Consider setting up a lending library of your own books and DVDs among friends, neighbors, church and parent groups you belong too to exchange favorites and buy less this year. (You will have fewer things to store and keep track of as well.)

32 days. Making an Advent calendar might be a fun project for this weekend or the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. A really nice one is at http://www.squidoo.com/myadventcalendars. It looks like a really fine project that would be fun for children as well as adults. The link is in the list below.

31 days. It isn't too late to plan small knitting and other craft projects for presents. See the module, Christmas crafts, below for ideas and the links list for lenses and links.

30 days. If your Thanksgiving weekend includes getting out and putting up Christmas decorations be sure to include batteries and bulbs on your shopping list so that you don't need to make an extra trip.

29 days. Today might be a good day to gather mailing supplies for the packages and cards you will need to send. Sturdy flat rate boxes and mailers can be ordered online from the Post Office and so can stamps. Just search US Post Office and you will find the site. There is no delivery charge. Your order will come with your regular mail.

28 days. Tonight and tomorrow are a time to give thanks and rejoice with your family for Thanksgiving.

27 days. No tip. Today is Thanksgiving.

26 days. Bring out your Advent things and set them up in readiness for Sunday, November 30, the first Sunday of Advent.

25 days. If you have an Advent calendar, this is the first day to open a window, a drawer or a pocket. The most beautiful Advent calendar I have ever seen is in the Metropolitan Museum catalog. Religious calendars are available from Leaflet Missal Company which is listed in the links on this lens.

24 days. This is the day to begin hanging ornaments on your Jesse Tree and lighting the candles on the Advent wreath. The Jesse Tree, with its prayers, might be a good morning practice and the Advent wreath one that will help bring people together for a pause at dinner time. May you have a joyful and holy, expectant Advent.

Making an Advent calendar--see the links.
Making an Advent wreath --see the link to my Advent lens

Salt dough ornaments--see link to cookie cutter collecting. These are so fun to make, make nice presents and are calorie free since they aren't edible!

Origami, especially making paper cranes to decorate the tree and wreaths.

Knitting and crochet. Think small here so that you have time for more than one present. Scarves, caps and fingerless mitts are fast projects. Neck-warmers (I call them neck rings--think the neck part of the turtleneck) are quick presents.

Look for things at Farmer's Markets that will be nice
additions to gift baskets.

It is a good time to look at the garden (or the Farmer's Markets) for beautiful flowers that will dry to decorate wreaths
and the Christmas tree. (There is a tradition that says all of the flowers bloomed at the moment of Christ's birth, so
flowers on the tree are not only pretty but well in keeping with the meaning of Christmas.)

It is an even better time to think of what community service projects you would like to take part in to make other
people's Christmas merrier and brighter.

Gifts and decorations can come from the things that you grow yourself. Dried flowers, jams, chutneys, dried peppers
strung as ristras and herb infused vinegars are some of the lovely things you can make from your garden.