Friday, December 11, 2009

Cutting corners

I'm trying something new and fun this year for Christmas:

not being ready.

Usually by December 1 I've finished everything but the wrapping, and the baking of cookies and delivery of same (it's tradition for me to drop by neighbours' with a lunch bag of samples from my mum's best family recipes). I don't even have to put up decorations, because I'll have reorganized the furniture in November to make room for them and then gotten them all finished.

This year, however, has been Very Difficult, putting Christmas 2009 on a tight time budget. Instead of getting all frolicky, I've been finding ways to cut corners. For example:

The house will be decorated for two weeks only.

The cookies will be baked and delivered in the last 4 days before Christmas Eve.

A lot of gifts will take the form of donations to homeless shelters and hot-meal suppliers; the rest will be bought online or home-made on a crafty assembly line.

I won't be cooking a turkey dinner on Boxing Day: I'm buying something ready made that reheats in one pan from the posh butcher shop and freezing it until then.

And thanks to all that - I think it will be the best Christmas ever! I'll have more time with friends and family, make decorating part of the experience instead of just an advance stage setting, and get enough sleep to enjoy the festivities.

(once I have all the mittens done, that is.)

1 comment:

TexNan said...

I hope it does turn out to be the best ever!

I'm doing much the same as you but it's not by design. Christmas sneaked up on me this year so I'm paring down. I'll put up a teeny-weeny tree (barely two feet tall) and decorate elsewhere sparingly.

I never exchange gifts; everyone I know has too dang much. Instead I give a large donation to our local elementary school to help buy Christmas for some of our local needy families. Then I make treat baskets for everyone else.

I've been doing this for years and the satisfaction I get is the best Christmas pressie ever. (See, it's all me, me, me!)