Christmas Countdown

You'll notice the wonderful Christmas countdown in the sidebar. I LOVE this. I have already started my "8 Weeks to Christmas" plan. I have done this for sooooo many years I don't even remember how long I've been doing it. I just know Christmas goes so much more smoothly when I follow my plan. And YES, I have been listening to Christmas music already. Haven't you???

You don't have any Christmas music Cd's you say? Try MCG channel 500. Christmas music, all Christmas, all day, all the time. They have a good mix of different types of music. I'm usually a Christain music person but at Christmas I can even get into a little Chipmunks Christmas. Who doesn't love em some Alvin??

Don't get me wrong. I love Thanksgiving and I feel that is what fall is all about. Everyday when I see the leaves changing and the guys in the field I do give thanks for everything the Lord has blessed us with. But any woman that has hosted at least one Christmas at her house or has hosted a Christmas party or Cookie party knows, you have to start early. Now my family is a little different than most. We have 5 family Christmas's. Yup, count em'- 5. And I host at least 3 of them at my house. We have Christmas with my Dad the sunday before (my house), my Mom's Christmas Eve (my house), we open our gifts Christmas day(my house), my Mother in-laws the weekend after, and my Step Dad's around New Years. And for Kicks & Giggles I usually host an annual Cookie Party. Soooooo, I have to start early. It's what keeps me sane.

I usually have everything done the week before Christmas so I can really enjoy the week leading up to Christmas. But that does mean I start right after Halloween. I'm not a big Halloween person, I decorate for Fall, and I usually do that the end of September. And I usually have decortations in almost every room. And then we go right into decorating for Christmas, and I have a Christmas tree in EVERY room and on all 3 levels of my house. So my house is not the same from September until the 2nd week of Jan.

The worst part of it all is the tear down in Jan. I take the week after Christmas to still enjoy all of my decorations. I love the soft glow the trees make in a room. Then the first of Jan. I start the tear down. I takes me a long time to tear down all of this. And then it's just plain. I always think I'll leave the snowmen stuff out but I never do. It's usually sad after the tear down because things just seem bare and lonely after that. But this year we're planning a wedding so we'll be busy getting ready for that. And what a great way to start the new year!