This week of the countdown is a week to rest from all our efforts for Christmas Day. We are continuing to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas by watching movies from the list we created in week one. I have continued my daily blog posts with photo collages for each day of December and will be working on my mini-album the first two weeks in January. This week we are also refocusing on healthy eating and getting back into our exercise routines.
I will begin to put away some of our Christmas items starting with the dishes, clothes, and wrapping papers. My plan is to slowly put things away and then to take down the three main Christmas trees on January 6.
I also completed an After Christmas Review about the things we liked or disliked this year and what we'd like to do different next year.
Some of the things that I liked this year and that went extremely well were:
*putting up the Christmas decorations went very smoothly as we only brought a few boxes down from the attic at a time. We put out those items (first the big trees, then the small trees, etc.), then put the boxes back up in the attic before bringing down a few more. All our boxes are labeled, so I was able to pick out what we needed next.
*how festive the house looked after we decorated.
*having lots of time together throughout the holiday season, playing dominoes, putting together puzzles, watching movies.
*having all the handmade gifts completed & wrapped before Thanksgiving.
*hosting the family get-together here at our home.
*the traditions that we enjoy each year - wrapping each other's gifts a few days before Christmas, Christmas Eve Communion Service, taking turns unwrapping and enjoying each gift, serving pie at 10 o'clock on Christmas Day, watching The Nativity Story on Christmas Day.
A few things I want to change or remember for next Christmas:
*Having too many sweets in the house between events tests my will power - I failed that test this year and ate way too many!
*I am less motivated to exercise during the few weeks before Christmas even though I have time to - make it a point to exercise early in the day as often as possible to avoid so many missed sessions.
*I would like to make my Christmas cards next year - start early, maybe in September!
This week was also about thank yous, being sure to send thanks for gifts or events. We were able to thank everyone either in person or with a phone call for our gifts this year; however I did send a couple of emails and make an additional phone call with special thanks for some of our gifts.
We are looking forward to a quiet New Year's Eve here at home. Robbie will be making prime rib for our New Year's Eve meal and I will be making cabbage, ham, cornbread and black-eyed peas for a traditional New Year's Day meal.
The new years meal sounds yummy :)
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