Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Pre-season twitch management plan

So I went there yesterday...


See, here's the thing for people who don't get people like me who are done with their shopping and starting to wrap.  I am a control freak.  When one thing gets behind...many things get behind.  When many things get behind, I hyperventilate and/or get bitchy and/or take it out on the Mr and/or get tempted to crawl under the covers with a bag of dark chocolate Lindt truffles.

When the holidays roll around, I put undue pressure on myself to make magic for others.  It's who I am...I'd change it if I cared enough but I'll always err on the side of magic for others at the expense of my own sanity.  If it sounds insane, it probably is but I'd rather be thoughtful than selfish with my time because I have an unreasonable expectation of recreating nostalgia from my youth.

Sue me.

My being out in crowds from this point until New Years Eve is not my idea of fun...it's like poking a bear 2 months into hibernation and is just begging for me to need bail money.  Wrapping presents in December while trying to fit in merriment, baking, creating last minute hostess gifts and the like would put me in a twitching spell.  So I do as much as I can before the season truly gets into full swing so that I can have normal stress and not mind melting, people slapping at random stress.

The legs are still giving us fits so I think the theme of this week is nothing over the top on the joints.  That means last night was Walk Away the Pounds for a 670 calorie burn.  Dinner was homemade Chinese food including my won ton soup.



So that's about it on my end.

Do you have any Christmas shopping done?  When do you wrap your presents?

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16 comments:

  1. It is good that you take care of what you can way ahead of time when you can. Why not save some sanity for yourself? It's crazy how fast this Christmas season started up. It was like barely Halloween and stores were already shifting over to it and the commercials were starting on TV.

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    1. Yes and why not save stress laden rages with you taking the brunt of it. (BTW, sorry for the ridiculousness with certain family members who are already being Cmas pains!) Yeah the Christmas commercials started a little early for me this year. I think mid-October and I was like nope, until Halloween is over, I don't jump on board.

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  2. I wait until December 15th and then send my HUGE order in to Amazon and then smile at the UPS guy as he comes to the house day after day after day :) I have a flurry of wrapping at that time and then I'm done. I have 10 grandchildren who get three gifts each, 4 adult children and their spouses, my husband and sooooo, it's a LOT of wrapping. This all started years before when I couldn't financially shop UNTIL December 15th, because that's when I got a nice Christmas bonus. Now, I could, but I don't. I've just kept the "tradition". It's a big joke around our house that I've got something going on with the UPS guy every December!!!
    Also, I hit Hobby Lobby after Christmas each year and stock up on their amazing wrapping paper at a dirt cheap price. SO, once that order is sent, I'M READY :)

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    1. LOL...I think it's great that you stick to tradition whether you're able to do it earlier or not. I know a lot of people who like to wait until about that time to do their wrapping to get them even more into the Christmas spirit! I tried to go to Hobby Lobby last year and man the vultures picked it over the day after Christmas so I was SOL. I think I found some wrap marked down in unconventional places so I grabbed them when I saw them.

      You've got a great system down, keep it up!

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  3. I haven't started shopping yet - but I need to. I don't do well with crowds at the best of times, and holidays are not the best of times in that respect. I don't have many people to buy for and this year the budget is tighter than usual so my shopping will be pretty light. Then I usually wrap a few days before Christmas in one made flurry of activity.

    We're having stir-fry tonight - so funny that you were craving Chinese food too.

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    1. Yeah, crowds at Christmas are just insane. I will usually go out once or twice in December just to look around to see if I'm missing anything and then I see two women wrestling over the last ________ and I tap out. I like to know that I'm in a store that time of year because I want to be and not because I need to be. Ya know?

      Yeah, we haven't had Chinese in forever and I know when it comes up once or twice in weekend suggestions that it's time to break it out at home and this meal always scratches the Mr's itch for take out!

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  4. It's not insane. You were probably born a Christmas elf. You've got a little ginger spice in your genes, is all :-)

    The erring on the side of magic for others at the expense of your sanity reminded me that it's time for: Angry Santa Elf !! You're welcome!!


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    1. How did you know I was born a Christmas elf? :-) Ginger spice all the way baby!

      Will have to check that out!

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  5. I'm a control freak too. I started wrapping my presents during the summer just because we went to visit my mother-in-law and I didn't want to have to pay to ship gifts later on in the year. Our eight nieces and nephews are done along with my mother-in-law. One year I suggested that we no longer buy for the nieces and nephews and received a tongue lashing from my brother-in-law. Now I just buy clearance junk all year in order to save money, yet appease them. I just have my husband and two kids to buy for so that won't be as stressful. Better to get it done sooner than later though. I agree with you. I don't like crowds and would rather be done with shopping and enjoy the season while everyone else is rushing to the store.

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    1. I don't blame you there. Shipping is not cheap! Oy, nothing like making the suggestion to cut back being met with some opposition. Various things happened in the family that financially it was better to not buy for the other families and honestly, I was kind of relieved. Gifts I put a lot of thought into were either not used, garage saled or sat unused. *rolling eyes*

      Better to be done with the 'must do's' that you can do ahead of time so you can enjoy the other events and season in general as it progresses!

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  6. It's a wonder we are friends--probably the balancing each other out thing-I am a very fly by the seat of my pants person. However, I do not like clouds either so online shopping is my friend. I am confident that any of us who have experienced your magic-making would not change one thing about you, that's what makes you so loveable. Keep on, my friend!

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    1. That is supposed to say CROWDS, not clouds!! LOL!

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    2. Bwahahaha...I was like "why doesn't she like clouds??" Too funny. You are too sweet. I like to have a plan in place but leave room for spontaneity if that makes sense. On our vacation, we actually combined the activities planned for another day into one day since we were ahead of schedule. Scandalous! :-) I'm learning.

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  7. I do. I have six presents already. I used to wrap them right away but I tend to forget what I bought. Maybe I should keep a list so I can enjoy wrapping now:). Looks like your having fun. Enjoy

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    1. Get it, girl! Yeah, I tend to wrap people's presents in certain paper so I know without tags. Like my mom's are poinsettias, the Mr is Snoopy, my grandma is snowmen, etc. But if I have to use the same for a few different people, I'll write their names in pen and slap a tag over it when it comes time to get ready for gift givin'.

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  8. Almost all of mine is done except for some gift cards and Christmas cards. I wrap as I buy and take a picture and put it on the outside of the package so I remember what it is! What's funny is I still feel compelled to buy wrapping paper every year even though I have loads of it already--and I'm already done with the wrapping!

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