The Elf Blog

Prepare versus Celebrate

If you've been reading this blog for more than the last 15 minutes, you know that I'm a huge fan of planning and preparation.  Getting ahead of the curve reduces stress and leads to more enjoyable celebrations.  Not planning ahead can lead to Christmas dinner at Denny's with no eggnog or chocolate milk (gratuitous Santa Clause reference).

But it's important to find a good balance.  It's possible to get so focused on planning and preparing that you forget to enjoy.  Spending the whole weekend indoors writing cards and polishing silver could mean not spending time with loved ones or not getting outdoors to enjoy an autumn weekend.

No present, no decoration, no recipe is as important as your presence and focus.If your preparations have started to overwhelm your celebrations, it's time to scale back.  Let yourself actually enjoy Thanksgiving before going full out on Christmas.  Focus on the preparations that you find meaningful and enjoyable and scale back on those you don't.  If you hate sending cards, why do you do it?  Just make a few phone calls to loved ones.  If you hate baking, stop by a bakery for your goodies. 

Christmas is still six weeks away.  You have time to decide what matters most and pursue those things.

Christmas Countdown-Six Weks

Christmas Eve is only six weeks away!  Scary, isn't it?

· You should do some serious work on your cards this week.  Try to finish addressing them and, if possible, start writing messages in them.  If you haven’t done so yet, buy your Christmas stamps.

· Keep up with your crafting.

· Try to do a few hours of shopping this week, either in stores or online.

· If you are traveling over Christmas or New Year’s, finalize your travel plans.

· If you are planning a Christmas party, finalize your guest list.

· Buy all the non-perishables you need for Thanksgiving.

 

Keep plugging along.  Remember, it will all be worth it when you can relax on Christmas Eve.

Tackling Big Tasks

I apologize for no blog yesterday.  I decided to take a break and play with my recovering dog.  We will two posts today to make up for it.

The holiday season is filled with big tasks:  baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc.  Taken as a whole, it can be overwhelming.  It can really help to break tasks into smaller pieces:

• Don't try to do everything in one session if that's not how you prefer to work.  If you force yourself into a decorating or card-writing marathon, you'll make yorself hate the task and the last things you do will show a lack of care.
• Do combine tasks that allow you to take advantage of economies of scale.  For example, if you have to shell nuts for two different kinds of cookies, do them all at once since you'll develop a productive rhythm.  Similarly, it may help to make all the packaging bows in one sitting.
• If you break tasks into smaller pieces, you can divide them among people.  For example, in writing cards, even young children can take care of sealing envelopes and putting on stamps and stickers.  Older children can address cards.  Decoration can be divided up as well -- by room, by type of decoration, etc.
• if you can keep a task set up at a place in your house, it makes it easier to work on it for small mounts of time.  If you have to set up a craft project each time you want to work on it or get all the wrapping stuff out each time you want to wrap a gift, you'll find every reason to procrastinate.  If all you have to do is walk over to the desk where the stacks of cards are located, it's easy to write a note or two while you wait for dinner to cook.
• Never underestimate the value of seeing some progress.  When you can see that a piece of a task has been completed, it makes it easier to move on to the next.

So go out -- divide and conquer your holiday tasks.

The Unexpected

No matter how much you plan, you can't control every aspect of life.  For example, this morning, my dog woke me in the wee hours of the morning because she wasn't feeling well.

Dealing with the situation required cleaning up after her, sitting with her until the vet office opened, hecking in with the vet during the day, picking her up, doing laundry, and spending some quality snuggling time.  None of that was on today's agenda.  Nor was the vet bill in this month's budget.

That's not a reason not to plan.  It's a reason to stay flexible.  I may have to reschedule some things and juggle some other things, but being planned and organized gives me the freedom to do those things.  And planning my saving lets me handle the unexpected bills without too much stress.

And most important, my dog is doing much better.

Christmas Countdown -- 7 Weeks!

Christmas Eve is only seven weeks away and Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  That means it's time to kick the preparations into high gear.

Here are this week's tasks:

• Begin developing your task schedule for the holiday season.  Put it right on your master calendar.  Write in dates for baking, decorating, writing cards, shopping, cooking, wrapping, crafting, etc.  Keep in mind that some tasks may need to be spread over several days.  For example, some doughs need time to rise, crafts need time to dry, etc.
• Identify areas in your house for various holiday activities: wrapping, gift storage, baking supplies, Thanksgiving staging, card writing.  If possible, keep these areas set until the task is completed.  If everything you need to work on cards is easily at hand, you can take 5 or 10 minutes to write a few notes, address some cards, etc. 
• If you have any presents that must ship overseas, you needs to buy them this week so they can ship before November 15th.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, here are your tasks:

• Finalize your menu.
• Begin staging the dinner, getting china, serving pieces, table linens, etc. ready and gathered in a single accessible place.
• Create a detailed schedule for your preparation.  Place everything as early in the schedule as possible to reduce stress.  You can shop for non-perishables as early as this weekend.  You can polish silver and iron table linens now.  You can set the table the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Only leave to Thanksgiving morning those things that cannot be done in advance.  The best thing you can bring to the table is yourself, relaxed.
• If you like fresh turkeys, order yours now for pickup during Thanksgiving week.  If you use a frozen turkey, you can buy it when you'd like.  Also get a large plastic bucket and make room in the fridge so you can brine it.

From here on out, we'll be working hard to prepare.  Remember the goal: To look up on Christmas Eve and realize that everything is prepared and you have nothing to do except enjoy.

Dark and Light

When we turned our clocks back last weekend, we did more than gain an hour of sleep (welcome though that was!)  We also shifted the pattern of light and dark.  Now, the sun rises and sets earlier each day. When I wake up in the morning, the sun is already up.  By the time I get home from work, darkness has fallen. 

Depending on how you deal with light and dark, you may need to rearrange your basic schedule.  With the sun up so early, I find it easier to get out of bed and start my day.  I find that I can actually get a few tasks accomplished before I leave for work.  On the other hand, I am far more hesitant to run extra errands in the early evening darkness.

That means I try to make stops on the way to work or I do outdoor tasks in the morning.  On the way home, I make a maximum of one stop.  I'll have to use my weekend daylight hours more efficiently as well.  In the evenings, I can clean the house, do laundry, cook, craft, and take care of other indoor tasks.

Whenever possible, try to schedule your tasks to take best advantage of both the daylight and your energy!

Christmas Countdown -- 8 Weeks

Thanksgiving is 4 weeks away.  Christmas Eve is 8 weeks away.  (Well, that takes care of scaring you all for Halloween!)

In the last weeks, we've done master scheduling, made lists, and played catch-up.  This week, we focus on taking stock:

• Take stock of your hostess items -- serving platters, fancy table linens, good china and silver, etc.  Does the silver need to be polished?  Do the linens need to be laundered or ironed or replaced?
• Take stock of your cooking and baking supplies.  Do you have enough cookie sheets?  Storage tins?  What cooking and baking basics do you have on hand:  broth, flour, nuts, sugar, vanila, almond extract, spices, baking powder, colored sugars, etc.?
• Take stock of your Christmas cards.  If you bought them in the after-Christmas sales last year, find them.  Make sure you have enough. Also, check your stock of address labels.  Holiday stamps are available at the post office, so you can pick them up at your convenience.
• Take stock of your wrapping supplies: paper, boxes, tissue, tape, ribbons, bows, and gift tags.
• Take stock of your decorations so you'll know if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.

By the end of the week, you should know where you stand so you'll be ready to move forward.  That's the goal.

Laying Groundwork for the Rest of the Year

We have about two months left in 2009.  (Where did the time go?  It seems like last week I was playing with penguins in Antarctica.)

There are three things you can do that will make these next two months far less stressful:

• Create a master calendar for the household.  No commitment exists if it isn't on that calendar.  Family members can match their personal calendars to it weekly.  Every commitment goes on it -- school and work events, visits to the gym, parties, dental appointments -- everything.  Make sure you block out time for exercise, relaxation, and family time.
• As you cook over the next few weeks, cook double when possible and freeze the extra in single meal portions.  When the holiday pace picks up, you will be too tired and pressed for time to want to cook.  It will be all to easy to call for a pizza and hit the fast food drive-thru.  In the same amount of time, you can defrost something from the freezer in the microwave and heat it up. Add a salad and you have dinner. Some dishes that freeze well includ lasagna, shepherd's pie, chilis, and soups.
• Spend some time de-cluttering your entertainment spaces.  Most of us don't use our guest rooms and formal dining rooms all that often.  That means they become repositories for all sorts of things we've been "meaning to get to."  Tidying them up now means not panicking once the holidays hit.

Christmas Countdown -- 9 Weeks

Christmas Eve is 9 weeks from today.  This week in the countdown is a catch-up week.  By the end of the week, you should have devleoped:

• Your budget.
• Your holiday calendar.
• Your lists (Christmas card, gifts to give, gifts to receive, etc.)
• Your travel plans.

If you find yourself with extra time, start your crafts, paw through your recipe file, and check your inventory of wrapping paraphernalia.

Stopping the Yo-Yo

Sorry about the lack of blog yesterday.  I had a problem with my Internet connection.  So there will be two today!

The last post looked at the problem of yo-yo scheduling.  Ok, now it has a cute little name.  But what do we do about it?

The first step is to look at how you spend your time.  What do you actually do in a day? (Write things down if you have to.  The results may surprise you,)  If you are doing too much to allow sufficient relaxation, you'll need to make some cuts:

• Are you doing anything that you don't need to do?  If so, that's the first thing to go.
• Are there things you are doing that are neither important nor necessary?  If so, those can go.  There is nothing wrong with telling people no.  Just practice these phrases:  "I'm sorry.  I won't be able to help with that project.  Please ask me the next time."  or "That sounds like such a lovely event.  I'm so sorry I won't be able to attend." 
• Is there a short-term short cut?  For example, you have an incredibly busy week ahead.  Can you pick up a roasted chicken and some sides rather than cooking?  Drop off shirts at the dry cleaner rather than doing laundry and ironing?
• Can you get help? Unless you live alone or there is a disability issue, you shouldn't be doing it all yourself.  Even a child can learn to make his own bed, put away her toys and clothes, gather recycling, etc. The older a child gets, the more responsibility he or she should have.  A high school student can do some of the laundry and cooking.  Yes, I know they have extra-curricular activities and homework.  Are they learning how to balance their schedules?  If not, how will they survive college or the work force when everything depends on them? 
• Can it be less than perfect? Here's something Martha will never tell you.  Not everything has to be top quality all the time.  Sometimes good enough is good enough.  You can not iron the parts of a shirt that no one will see.  Or you can close the doors to rooms that aren't guest ready.  Or you can buy snack for soccer practice instead of baking.  Life will go on. 

In the long run, a peaceful spirit will create a more pleasant memory than perfection.