Life would be simpler if I didn’t want children. I’d still be incredibly impatient and grumpy for having to wait this long to be with my life partner (while so many others got to meet their mates in their 20s or earlier), but there wouldn’t be the added sense of panic that thoughts of my biological clock brings.

Of course I can have healthy children past the age of 35, just like there could be complications if I was under the age of 30, but it’s all about the odds when you’re past 35. Icky, possibly less favourable odds. My mom gave birth to Brother #2, her fourth-born, at age 33. I just did the math right now and that makes me feel like booing and hissing even more.

But enough doom and gloom. Unfortunately nothing I can do will make things happen faster than they’re supposed to happen. I just hope they’re supposed to happen for me.

My goal is to raise $1,000. Last time, my goal was to raise $250 (the minimum required by the CDA), and thanks to readers of this blog, friends, and family, I was able to raise $793! The minimum I have to raise has doubled to $500, but with hard work I’ll definitely reach the goal. I’m 18% of the way there, actually, thanks to two very generous people in my life.

I’ve been eating a lot of cookies lately, so I couldn’t help but comment on Facebook about the irony of updating about cookie-eating habits and 5K planning in practically the same breath. Even though the money I’m raising is for the CDA and my mom is diabetic, the cause hasn’t turned me into a sugar-shunning person; I do hope it does one day. I was discussing this issue with someone and maybe one day I’ll share what I wrote about my weight journey because I don’t think I’ve ever put such thought into writing about the topic before and I’m really proud of what I wrote. The truth is I still eat more sweets than I should, and I don’t exercise as much as I should. I intend to give myself plenty of time to train for the race so I can beat the time from my first race. I don’t think the CDA will mind taking money from someone who has a soft spot for sweets!

A year and a half ago, I tried a run/walk program and got up to seven minutes of running followed by a minute of walking, repeated three times. It’s been so long that I’d have to start again from the “one minute run, two minute walk” days but I have time. I don’t move fast but I’m hoping using this program on race day along with the adrenaline that’ll come from the race itself and wanting to beat 2008′s time, I’ll finish the race around the 40 minute mark. I’ll be very proud of myself if I can accomplish that and if I don’t, at least I tried and did something for a cause I care about… kind of reminds me of the protest I took part in last week.

I didn’t cross every item off my Twelve by 2012 list, but I’m satisfied with my progress. I know if I hadn’t joined the challenge none of these things would have been accomplished in 2011 because I would have just procrastinated on them (and in many cases I did procrastinate, but I got them done just barely on time!).

What I did:

• buy winter tires for my car Done December 23, after weeks of my dad reminding/nagging me. I resent the almost $600 spent, but appreciate the increased comfort I feel driving on icy/snowy roads!
• increase my car payments (by making an extra payment for the year or seeing if I can have more added to the bi-weekly payments) Done December 30 (I increased my bi-weekly payments by 21%).
• buy a GPS system Done December 24 on the early Boxing Day sales online.
• send out a save the date email or invitations to a Christmas party/gingerbread party/cookie exchange party (can’t decide) at my house Done October 29 via Facebook…the Christmas fête event was held on December 3!
• email the builder of my house regarding getting touch up paint (I was supposed to follow up on this a year ago…they may not give it to me anymore!) Done October 26. They can’t give it to me anymore because they no longer use paint from that particular supplier…or so they said. I think they’re just mean, to be honest.
• return the three huge cases of water sitting by my doorstep to the store I bought them from Done November 3 thanks to Ves
• host the regular Friday night gathering with my friends Done December 30, on the last possible Friday of the year (of course!). We ordered in food and had a very chill time. I need to do this more often.

What I still need to do (maybe):

• increase my mortgage payments (by making an extra payment for the year or seeing if I can have more added to the bi-weekly payments)

  I need to first check to see if the conditions of my mortgage allow me to make extra payments, and I think I have to search my paperwork for that.

• find a pretty way to mask the visible electrical cords behind my tv

  I don’t think I’m going to find something pretty that doesn’t look weird, unless I get one of those big wall units for the cords to hide behind so I might take this off the list.

• call the church back about the volunteering opportunity that I signed up for

  They actually called me back this year, then I called them back and sent them an email. Now they’re waiting for an email from me, telling them about myself. Figuring out what I to put into the email is making me procrastinate on drafting it.

• hang curtains in the living room and my bedroom (at least)

  I just don’t care enough to make this a priority, and I don’t really want to put any holes in my walls. At almost three years old it’s not a new house anymore but I’m still babying it, apparently!

• develop a WordPress theme for my GNG blog

  It didn’t happen last year but it will this year. I feel very close to a breakthrough on this front.

I want to get these things done by March 31, 2012.

• My Christmas tree goes up on the last weekend of November.
• I host a Christmas fête the following weekend, for friends, on the first Saturday of December (it might be a bit premature to put this down here since I’ve only hosted one such event).
• I go to the Christmas Eve service at my church with my family, followed by early Boxing Day shopping that evening.
• I sleep over at my parents’ place on Christmas Eve (it didn’t happen this year but I slept over on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and a couple more days).
• I host my family at my house on New Year’s Day.

This last point also happened for the first time this year. I decided to make a turkey dinner (my first, actually!) I’m embarrassed to admit it but it was also my first time making mashed potatoes (I’m a sheltered flower, yes I am!). Dinner was simple: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and asparagus.

After waking up at the decadent hour of 11am, I decided to take my turkey out of the fridge, where it had been defrosting for less than 24 hours. It was still frozen. I had to transfer it to a bath in my sink. I had cut up the bread for the stuffing the night before, but it was still pretty fresh and soft, so I had to toast several batches of it in the oven while trying to quick-thaw my turkey.

Let’s talk about stuffing for a moment: I love it, oh so much. I always eat more stuffing than any other thing, and when I’m responsible for setting the table at my parents’ place, I always make sure the stuffing is set in front of me. As much as I love my mom’s stuffing, I was really excited to try out a stuffing recipe from the Food Network booklet my friend and former colleague Gen gave me. The last time I recall seeing the booklet was before my Christmas fête. I calmly checked all the places I thought it should be, then became more frustrated as New Year’s Eve day wore on. I eventually had to give up but I’m still pouting that I couldn’t find it when I needed it. I hope it didn’t end up in my recycling box by accident! My default stuffing recipe came from a cookbook I got from Ves and Rich as a housewarming gift, combined with the vegetables and herbs I recalled my mom including in her stuffing. I did have to call my family and ask them to bring some sage or poultry stuffing because I hadn’t done a complete inventory of my kitchen contents before cooking.

My parents and sister came by after church that afternoon (Brother #1 could not have been convinced to attend and Brother #2 had gone out of town for New Year’s Eve) and my mom proceeded to bustle around my kitchen, helping to get that turkey in the oven as soon as possible (she can’t resist a kitchen) while my dad and sister made themselves comfortable. We had a really relaxing afternoon: my three guests watched a football game and enjoyed some wine and snacks while I surfed the web and ate sugar cookies. Dinner was served at 9pm (thanks to getting the turkey in quite late!). Doesn’t it look good?

I wasn’t kidding about my mom loving the kitchen!

And the best part was that my parents and sister slept over! I was happy to have them over and they planned to sleep over as a surprise to me. And because they knew they were staying over, they could indulge to their heart’s content, stay up late and not rush. Dessert was cheesecake (oh yes, I have to tell you about my cheesecake debacle) with tea and coffee.

My dad usually likes to get a quick start on the day but the next morning even he lounged around chez moi until noonish, or maybe a bit before. My parents left and my sister stayed. The two of us watched a movie (accompanied by tea and more sugar cookies for me!).

It was a really good New Year’s Day and I hope it’ll be a tradition we repeat next year. I learned a lot about cooking turkey dinner too so maybe I’ll have most things done by the time they arrive next year! And hopefully, my brothers will attend next year.

My main gift was a vacuum from my parents and I’m so excited about it because I wasn’t expecting it at all! I’ve wanted a good vacuum since I moved into my own place, and my trusty Consumer Reports guide ranked the Dy.son brand highest in the category I was interested in. However, one of the H.oover vacuums also ranked high (but at a much more palatable cost), and given that I don’t have any pets, I had settled on a H.oover. My mom works in a department store so she called me earlier in December to inquire about the exact name of the vacuum because her colleague who works in the vacuum section said there would be deals in January and would keep an eye out for a deal on my particular vacuum. It was the plan all along for my mom to buy the vacuum for me using her store discount and money I would give her so I thought nothing of her inquiry. I innocently gave my mom the information and when Brother #1 brought up the gift it didn’t even occur to me that it could be for me or be a vacuum. I am quite thrilled!

(In case you’re curious, the word ‘vacuum’ appeared eight times in the above paragraph. You’re welcome. Also, I’m the easiest person to surprise because I have a terrible memory. never expect someone to think of surprising me. rarely wonder why someone’s asking me things; I just give up all the info they’re seeking—and more—most times!).

Brother #1 was home for Christmas after all and as he requested my siblings and I did not buy him gifts, though we did buy stocking stuffers for him. He also had stocking stuffers for us. Things are still not great between us but I was happy that he was around and I tried to bite my tongue as much as possible when he said things that incensed me or when he blatantly tried to draw attention to himself. I succeeded a bit more than half of the time.

No Christmas blog entry would be complete without a Boxing Day recap (every time I’ve talked about Boxing Day I’ve called it Black Friday, incidentally, except in this entry). I love deals to the point of inconveniencing myself for the bragging rights associated with getting a good deal. It probably is a sickness but I’d like to live with it forever and ever if that’s ok.

After the Christmas Eve service, I hurried to my parents’ house to start my Boxing Day shopping. In case you’re unaware, the two big electronic shops in Canada—B.est Buy and Fu.ture Shop—start Boxing Day sales online on Christmas Eve. Brother #2 and I logged in to our accounts for each of the stores just before 8:00pm and waited for the countdown. Once the time hit and after a few glitches to figure out how the interactive online flyers worked, I had two laptops, a digital camera, a GPS (don’t forget my Twelve by 2012 list!), and an antivirus program divided in a shopping cart for each store, and then I entered the lengthy checkout process. I had learned from Brother #1 two years ago that sometimes after waiting an hour to check out your item, you discover that other people beat you to the item and it’s sold out by the time your checkout process is completed. I therefore decided to “buy” two laptops—one from each retailer—and see which one actually makes it. Just like last year with the netbooks, both went through for me so I’ll return one (after checking the specs to see which is the best bang for my buck, naturally). I couldn’t find the particular GPS recommended by Consumer Reports, so I got one that looked good; I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m afraid to buy another camera, given my history, but I just don’t carry my DSLR around as much as I would if it could fit into my purse.

After opening gifts on Christmas evening, I started to get jittery and antsy. I needed to be in line somewhere, waiting for the doors to open and the mad dash for Boxing Day deals to begin. So, just after midnight, I called the 24 hours Sho.ppers Dr.ug Ma.rt to see if they were open for Boxing Day already. They didn’t answer the phone until nearly 1am and once I discovered they were opened I dusted off my car, drove over there, bought some things, stopped at my house, made two Christmas cards, then drove back to my parents’ house and was in bed before 3am, with lofty goals of waking up at 6:30am to be among the first to get to Walm.art to take advantage of its sales, starting at 7am. Well I slept through the alarm and woke up an hour later than planned. I brushed my teeth and headed to the store and picked up a few things. I proceeded to shop for the next six hours—I still cannot believe I was out for six hours! From Walm.art I went to Chap.ters, then Mich.aels, then I.KEA, then Sho.ppers Dru.g Mar.t (a different location), then Walm.art (again), then a mall (this drained me: so. many. people!), then Pharm.aPlus, then Sho.ppers Dru.g Mar.t (my third location), then another mall (not as crowded but still draining). Then I crashed at my parents’ house.

I don’t know what it is about Boxing Day and Black Friday that gets my adrenaline pumping. I remember driving into the busy mall and entering a traffic jam just to get into the parking lot and being excited, squealing to my sister (over the phone) that I “love this!” (don’t worry, I have a hands-free phone system in the car).

For the rest of the week I revisited most of the stores I had gone to on Boxing Day and picked up a few extra things. I’m most excited about the Christmas craft supplies that snagged; now I just have to remember to start Christmas crafting in October.

**The story of the pictures of my sister and Brother #2, and my mom and I makes me laugh. My sister was sitting on the stairs and the four of us were talking. All of a sudden, Brother #2 hops on my sister’s lap and the way he hopped on just cracked the rest of us up. What else could I do but snap a picture of it and decide to recreate the same thing with my mom. Luckily my mom is very playful and good-natured so we got our picture too.

This is my eighth year doing this “year in review” survey. You can check out my responses in previous years if you’d like: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

01. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Drive my own car, go on a solo road trip.

02. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t know if I made resolutions but I probably did and probably didn’t keep them (as usual). I will absolutely make new resolutions.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, Allison had Noah in September!

04. Did anyone close to you die?
One of my cousins passed away a few months ago and my mom’s cousin passed away a couple of weeks ago, in her sleep. I wasn’t close to either lady, but I last saw my mother’s cousin in 2008 when we visited Nigeria and I thought she was a really nice woman. When we returned to Nigeria in 2010 we dropped by her house but unfortunately she wasn’t at home. Both ladies died young; that’s always a sad thing.

05. What countries did you visit?
USA.

06. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A fiancé.

07. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Maybe July 30, when I bought my car, and August 4 when I picked it up at the dealership.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying a car.

09. What was your biggest failure?
Not realizing my blogging goals.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Aside from the nasty burn on my right arm from my Dad’s oven in Hammy, nope (thank God!).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My car (goodness: we have a strong theme here!).

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My parents and my sister. They were all so supportive of me this year. Also, my sister had some pretty big milestones this year (got out of her dead-end job, got baptized, and got an iPhone) so I’m very proud of her (and yes, getting an iPhone is a milestone because it really has changed her life, just as I predicted it would!).

I also have awesome friends.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Brother #2, a colleague, and the Canadian embassy in Nigeria.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Eating out? The car? My mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Paying my dad a surprise visit in Hammy.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Someone Like You by Adele.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder?
Sadder, but only because this time last year I was pretty lovestruck.

thinner or fatter?
I’m quite sure I have more fat cells if I’m not actually larger.

richer or poorer?
Poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising, cooking, learning graphic design, mastering WordPress, praying, having faith, reading (including in particular my bible).

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating sugar-laced products (same as last year).

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family. We opened our gifts after dinner (a first!) on Christmas day, I enjoyed Boxing Day shopping solo, and I slept over at my parents for most of the week after Christmas (this latter part is the same as last year).

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Nope.

22. What was your favourite TV program?
Oprah’s Lifeclass.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nah, though there are a few people that I would like nothing more than a nodding acquaintance with.

24. What was the best book you read?
Hmm, I didn’t read many books cover-to-cover but Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk was good.

25. Who was your greatest musical discovery?
Adele.

26. What did you want and get?
A car.

27. What did you want and not get?
This fella I like to move here.

28. What was your favourite film of 2011?
Something Borrowed I think.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 32 and went for lunch and dinner with friends the night before, and dinner with my family the day of. I also decided to intentionally celebrate my birthday moving forward.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having a boyfriend who lived in the same country as me.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
“I wore clothing”.

32. What kept you sane?
My family and friends and remembering to give thanks (same as last year).

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None. I don’t fancy celebrities or public figures.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I remain politically apathetic, just like last year (and years previous).

35. Who did you miss?
This fella who’s in Nigeria, K.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
No one comes to mind.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011
I’m still learning this but I think my dad is right when he said I have to make sure that I don’t let setbacks prevent me from continuing to pray and hope for things with all my heart. If I let something that’s important to me slip off my radar as a coping mechanism, I may discover that I’ll successfully trick myself into thinking I don’t actually want it. I do this because I want to protect myself but I need to stop trying to prevent myself from feeling all the emotions that come with wanting something badly, not believing that I can actually have it or that I deserve it, and dealing with the related setbacks that can and will occur on the path to getting my heart’s desire.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
No song lyrics really sum up this year.

- – -

And that’s it for another year! Give this survey a try if you’ve never done it.

I had my first counselling session yesterday. The counsellor was exactly what I expected from our phone call last week: an older woman (early 50s I’d say), kind of straightforward, and a little bit “eccentric cat lady”. I did not predict her extensive giraffe collection or the plants that have clearly taken over her home but that’s ok (because I love plants and I happened to notice she has some succulents I may request clippings of…if that doesn’t cross the counsellor-client barrier). I don’t have strong feelings about her in one way or another so I’ll see her again before I decide if I want to continue with her.

What I took away from the session is to give Brother #1 space but always send him love (which I can do without actually interacting with him). I have to also let my parents speak for themselves when Brother #1 is being disrespectful, instead of jumping in and trying to protect my parents. I also have to stop trying to save him from what might be the path he has to go through before coming around: I’m so afraid that if he turns away from us he’ll hit rock bottom and be too proud to reach out for help but maybe that’s what has to happen for him to see that we truly love him and only want the best for him. The counsellor was for me, not him, so I have to focus on what I have to do.

Christmas is here and surprise surprise I’m not ready. I’m really trying not to stress about it because first of all, I hate all the hoopla about gifts. I find gift-giving is more stress than it’s worth most of the time, and the worst part is that I get stressed about other people’s gift-giving! For example, I ran into my mom at the store this week: I had no idea she was at that mall or in that particular store. She was there buying a gift for her friend whose birthday is on Christmas Eve. My mom had picked a calendar and a book and was ready to pay for them. I proceeded to scrutinize her choices and wonder aloud if her friend would like these offerings. My mom was not at all bothered: she said that she picked what she wanted for her friend and if her friend didn’t like them she could exchange the gifts for something else. I love my mom’s approach to gift-giving: once she’s decided what she wants to get for someone and buys it, she doesn’t spend an extra second agonizing over whether or not the person will like the gift (though she does sometimes stress over Christmas gifts for immediate family members though!).

I’m not as secure as she is, sadly, and that’s why I’ve tried to eliminate gift-giving and receiving opportunities from my life as much as possible. Anyone who gives me a gift this year will receive an expression of appreciation and likely nothing more. I’ve always hated that “you-gave-me-a-gift-so-I-feel-obliged-to-give-you-a-gift” feeling that is so prevalent in today’s society. I figure if someone gives me a gift and they’re irate that all they received from me was a thank you, then a) their heart wasn’t in the right place when giving the gift in the first place and b) they won’t give me a gift next year, so gift-related awkwardness is gone.

And isn’t it just like me to showcase two sweet ornaments that I received from my friend Gen at my Christmas fête in an entry about my Scrooge-like approach to gift-giving? My point is once shopping for a gift progresses to a stressful affair due to not being able to figure out what to buy, then it’s not cool.

The only person you can change is you.

When people show you who they are, believe them.

Brother #1 and I have not been getting along for years. We clash regularly and although I’m older by seven years, my so-called maturity doesn’t show when fighting with him. I almost always apologize to him after our fights, not because my point isn’t valid but because of the way I tried to make my point, because I resorted to yelling and screaming. He has never dignified my apologies with a response.

Until today, I didn’t realize that as far as he’s concerned, we have been in the middle of one big fight for all these years. I try not to hold grudges as a general philosophy, and when we’re not fighting I always thought things were fine between us because I didn’t sense any tension. Of course I realized that our fights touched on the same themes, but I really didn’t think things between us were that bad, to the point where he wants nothing to do with me. He’s told me before that he doesn’t care for me, that I’m nothing to him, even that he hates me, but I thought they were words spoken in anger. Maybe they are, but what I realized as I responded to his text message today is that I had reached my limit too: my heart is broken that he does not care for me as his sister, as a human, even though I’d die for him. But I don’t have to fix him; I can’t fix him (I’ve tried in different ways over the years to reach out to him). My job now is to do what I need to do to fix me.

I hate the feeling of being estranged from people, especially if I didn’t do anything to cause it. I hate the feeling that someone hates me “just because”, but I have to accept that this happens and I cannot control it. My family is incredibly close, but over the years Brother #1 has made it clear that he does not want to be close to us and that’s painful. He makes an effort to miss milestones of family members. He’s one sixth of our family and always will be, but he wants out. He’s decided the other family members are bearable in small doses but he’s made sure to let me know that I’m the one he has the least use for. That hurts.

But this experience is not at all unique: lots of families deal with estrangement. In my reply to his text message, I told him I’ll honour his desire to no longer interact. Maybe this tactic will work, maybe it won’t, but right now I have to try to take the focus off fixing him and turn my attention to myself and my flaws. My hope is that with the professional help I’m seeking, I’ll learn how to interact with my family, including Brother #1, without feeling sick to my stomach about our non-relationship. I know that good things will come from this move to seek help. I’ll pray too that things change between us for the better, but I’m looking forward to learning how to find some peace or sense of “okayness”, even if things remain like this.

But enough about that! I hosted my Christmas fête this past weekend and I think it was a good time. My sister showed up for me in a big way that day and I’m forever grateful. She helped me move furniture around, cleaned, cooked, picked up missing food items, and decorated cookies. She kept me on track time-wise. She basically saved the day and prevented a full-on panic attack.

Number of adult guests: 19
Number of guests under the age of 5: 4
Ratio of food to guests: way too much
Food highlights: bacon-wrapped waterchestnuts, seven-layer dip (served with tortilla chips), a cheese platter (more on that later) served with pita triangles and baguette slices, a veggie tray with dip, my mom’s akara (a Nigerian delicacy made from black-eyed beans), meat pies, cheesecake, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookie squares. I supplemented these made-from-scratch items with a “heat and serve” appetizer assortment and mint M&Ms.

Because I was so rushed, I didn’t have time to take pictures of any of the food that was served…it was quite a spread when all was said and done. I have hosted three “big” parties in my home in the past two years and almost eight months I have lived here: a house warming, my 30th (dessert only) and this party. At one of the earlier parties I decided I had to have a candy buffet or the event would not be complete, and I spent more time than necessary finding a nice mix of glass dishes to put various candy in, and I bought a Lazy Susan to put the varieties of candy on. This time my obsession was on creating a cheese platter, which incidentally was also displayed on my Lazy Susan. My colleague Wendy is a cheese-aholic so I think it was the yummy cheese that I had at her house a month ago that put cheese on my brain. I spent far too much time researching how to create a cheese platter and I went on two cheese scavenging trips with my friend Eli’s wife before I was satisfied with my selection. I spent far too much time agonizing over how the cheese platter would be received, but just like the candy buffet I’m glad I did it. I wish I had a picture of the cheese platter though!

The party was a learning experience like everything I do, so here’s what I’d do differently next year:

• do as much of the baking ahead of time as possible (even if I don’t want to bake things several weeks before the event, just having the dough made would save time)
• do a deep cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing) of the house a few days before rather than the night before
• prep as many of the dishes I want to serve ahead of time, rather than while my guests are hovered around me
• have little flags identifying the varieties of cheeses—I really wanted to do this but just ran out of time

Though it wasn’t a perfect event, people seemed to enjoy themselves so I want it to be an annual event: I’ve already put a reminder in my phone that on November 3, 2012, I’ll send out an invitation for the second annual Christmas fête, to be held on December 1. I like the idea of developing traditions: Christmas tree up the last weekend in November and now a Christmas fête the following weekend (first weekend of December). Fantastic!

Here’s what I’ve done so far to get ready for the season…and the party. They’re not big things but they have helped me feel like I’m on track:

• I’ve brought out all my Christmas gear and two red plastic storage tubs are taking up prime real estate in my living room.
• I’ve set up my festive tea light holder.
  
• I’ve made a yarn-wrapped wreath and I’m addicted to making them now (it only took one!). Maybe I should have a giveaway for one of the others I’m planning to make…that would be very fitting with the Christmas spirit wouldn’t it?
  

• I have put a bunch of Christmas-themed cds on hold at the library. I’ve received four or five so far and transferred the music to my computer.
• I went through all my magazines that have Christmassy recipes and bookmarked the ones I want to make.
• I bought Christmas stamps.
  
• I have my wreath hanging on my front door
  

  (and “hanging” is right: it’s currently on display in such a way that every time I open or close the door the wreath sort of swings and bounces around…so annoying! If that sign with the number of my house wasn’t there the ribbon would lie flat against the door.

I decided last year that I want my tree set up during the last weekend of November. This year, I may set it up a little earlier so I don’t have to have it on my pre-party to do list.

How do you get ready for Christmas?