Seasonal talk.....will you do anything differently?

I thought I would get some dialogue going if I can about the time of year that is upon us again. So far, and I know it is early yet, but I am feeling excitement about the Christmas holidays versus how I felt for some years and that is a feeling of being very "put upon" to do basically everything that was done here to prepare for the holiday. It might have something to do with having two grand children who will definitely love the whole season and all that is involved in it. For some years the only folks I was buying for or hanging out with were adults and that took a lot of the excitement spark out of the celebration for me.

I don't expect that any one around me will do anything differently this year and that basically means that John will shop for less than three gifts and if anything else is given I will have been responsible for obtaining the gift. For some weeks now I have already been in the spirit and am looking forward to having a less stressful season and hopefully not find myself growing resentful that I am doing a lot more than those around me.

Hopefully by starting early enough I won't find myself pushed at the last minute to do the things I had hoped to do. There have been years in which I didn't wrap any gifts, just put them in bags and there have been years when I have actually paid people to wrap gifts for me. Lst year I promised myself that I would send Christmas cards this year. If I can locate the cards I bought at after holiday sales I will try to start addressing them within the next week. I also purchased the ingredients for some cookies I want to bake and give as gifts and plan to do them soon too. The cookies can be frozen, so doing ahead of time is smart I believe.

Anyway......I am hoping that those of you who have found themselves sometimes getting stressed and resentful in the past will come along and give those of us who haven't yet perfected the getting through the holidays some hints, tips and ideas that you have used in order to make the season more peaceful and joyful for all concerned.

Ruby