December: It's the most wonderful-crazy-ass time of the year...

Since we are about to start December, I thought this would be a fun time to make some lists. Holiday-type lists. What I want to do this month, things I need to do this month, present ideas for me...have I mentioned I love presents?

We gave up the traditional advent calendar a long time ago. For several years we did a paper chain - during Thanksgiving weekend we would come up with a list of 24 fun things we wanted to do during the holiday season, write one activity on each strip of paper, and make a paper chain out of it. Each day, one kid would get to take the link off the chain, read it, and we did that activity on that day. Some of our activities included: driving around and looking at lights, reading a holiday story together, make a holiday craft together. I tried to be mindful of the calendar as I made the chain, taking into account days off school, holidays such as Chanukah and St. Nicholas, family activities, etc. This was a big hit, but as the kids have gotten older, and our calendar has filled more quickly, we were forgetting to do our activities more often. So here is a small list of fun December-y activities I'm hoping we get to this month:

1. Look at lights. This is something we do every year, and often more than once. The most fun excursions are the impromptu ones - maybe we've gone out to dinner and we drive around on our way home. Or I make hot cocoa for everyone and we just go.

2. I did find a few holiday crafts I'd like to make, including the jar lanterns in this month's Family Fun. I'll take pictures of any I make.

3. Go to the Solstice dinner at the UU church downtown. I was very excited to see they had one. After the dinner, we'll come home, exchange our gifts (everyone is doing handmade this year) and probably have a fire outside, depending on the weather.

4. Bake cookies. I didn't do it last year. This one may not happen, as my weekends are getting very full.

5. Take lots of pictures of the everyday stuff this month. Ali Edwards always does a December scrapbook, and I've always loved the idea - it's generally a chipboard book, with one photo per page for each day of the month. A lot of the pages are holiday oriented, but not all of them. I like the idea of paying attention to each day during such a crazy busy month.

Things I still need to do! Soon!

1. Put up the tree. I'm not worried about this one - I refuse to put up my tree before Dec. 1.

2. Figure out who's getting what and doing the getting. Yikes, I hate waiting this long.

3. Figure out where we're going during the break. I know what we're doing the first few days, but I'm waiting on some family members' feedback regarding the rest.

4. Make a doctor's appt. I need to get my cholesterol checked. Not really holiday-related, but it needs to be done.

5. Finalize anything that has to be made. I stipulated that Yule gifts be handmade this year, but I still haven't figured out my gifts. Luckily I only do 2 - one for each kid. Makes it easier.

I'm going to think on my fun list - presents for ME! Whee! and post it tomorrow, as my hot chocolate is getting cold, and we just can't have that. After 3 years of never taking a sick day from school, my son was sent home with a nasty fever and feeling dizzy, so tomorrow will be a down day. I got my cards in today, so I think I'll work on those tomorrow. Have a good night, and stay warm.