Putting My Holiday Plans In Place

 

Two months from today it will be Christmas morning.  Yeah, I don’t know how that happened either, but it is coming up fast.  I’ve been doing a lot of planning lately – financial planning, yearend planning and planning for the upcoming year of 2024.  I’ve also done a little bit of holiday planning and I can tell you this year is going to be, dare I say, the easiest holiday season I’ve ever planned so far.

 

My goal is to really be present in the moment and truly enjoy the holidays like never before.  I’m not doing any entertaining this year and it amazes me how much relief I feel about that decision.  Instead, I will be going places and doing things outside of my home this holiday season.

 

This year I will not be cooking a giant Thanksgiving Day feast, no turkey to brine, no big preparations of any kind.  I plan to bake one pumpkin pie and my grandmother’s fruitcake recipe and call it good.  It will be a quiet and uneventful weekend, no Black Friday shopping, none of that commercial nonsense.  Instead I will be doing other things and I can hardly wait,

 

This year I won’t be doing any Christmas shopping.  I’m keeping it super simple.  I’ll be sending out Christmas cards (already have them made) along with my annual letter to friends and family and if you happen to be on my gift list you’re getting a gift card (earned from doing surveys) or some home baked goods.  That is it, nothing fancy.  Other than a book of postage stamps and a bottle of wine, this is going to be pretty much a no cost Christmas.

 

I’ve streamlined and decluttered my Christmas décor to the point that I’m down to one single bin of décor, a wreath and a three foot artificial Christmas tree.  I have zero plans to purchase anything new, in fact, I plan to go through and do another declutter to get rid of even more stuff.  I’m pretty much down to the sentimental and heirloom ornaments for my tree and a handful of items I’ve kept simply because I like them.

 

After giving away my set of Christmas china last spring I found four small Corelle Christmas plates on eBay this summer that match my set of Corelle coffee cups I’ve had for quite a while now.  I believe that will be more than enough to keep me in the Ho, Ho, Ho spirit.  I find it takes less and less to make me happy these days.

 

New Year’s Eve and New Years Day will also be simple affairs.  No big parties or anything special really.  Just time spent with those that are most important to me and some good food to go along with it.  So, as we head on into the holidays I’m getting super excited.  Low key, low cost, low stress and I’m going into it with no real expectations.  I’m just going to roll with it.  However it all turns out will be good enough for me.