Just looking for ideas,I was feeling quite good last week so I made our Christmas Cake. I am trying to do a lot of planning to make things easier and if all else fails I WILL be delegating to my teen kids & husband!!
I'm starting now.
We go to my in-laws 8.5 hours away for Thanksgiving, and exchange Christmas gifts with them then, so I need to have gifts ready for our trip. I'll get together everyone's gifts, so that's one less thing I need to do in December.
I'll start baking and freezing Christmas cookies as I feel up to it.
I'll get my contributions to Christmas Eve brunch and Christmas dinner cooked/baked and frozen weeks in advance if possible.
I'm preparing for our Advent traditions now, hoping to have everything set by the first day of Advent.
We gather at my sister's house on Christmas Eve and my parents' on Christmas Day, which saves me work and stress.
I'm hoping to have a "tribal batch cooking" gathering at my house to make Christmas goodies - I invite friends and their kids over, and we spend an afternoon baking while the kids play.
I bought my cards and will be addressing them and writing notes as I feel able. I try and get them mailed out the first week of Dec. I also cut down my list to a bare minimum of people I really care about.
I do the gift shopping online. Some years my cookie collection involves things from stores and confection sweets people send as gifts. Some years I am able to bake a lot. I think this year I'll start on cookies soon, as I'm feeling up to it right now. I freeze them.
Decorations only go in one big room with the (fake) tree that the kids can put up and decorate. I only need to do the lights. Or my husband does them. I also decorate the 1/2 bath guests use.
We don't travel because it makes me flare. Lots of Christmas phone calls in my family!
I have been working on the Thanksgiving meal now with freezing the casseroles that can be made ahead of time. Already ordered the turkey and I have others bring the rest of the stuff like desserts, etc.
Christmas will be a lot easier for I too go to my mothers and in laws. So I do not cook much for that.
Most of the gifts will be online with a few trips to the store. I am going to try to not go the malls if I do not have to.
Cards will be sent to only people that we have received them from which is mostly close out of town friends and family. They will all be pre-printed and everything. The kids address them for me, not very neat but hey they feel a part.
The tree is coming down next week so when my college son comes home they can trim it.
The baking is will be done all at my mothers home for I have lots of eager beavers and she has a huge kitchen!
My ten year old daughter is wanting the outside of the house decorated so I hired a teenager to come over and help her with it.
The inside of the house gets only decorated in one room where we spend most of the time.
Lots of family time, church time and maybe this year a college bowl game since my son plays college football and his team is bowl elgible.
I will do most of my Christmas shopping on line. My daughter in law cooks for Thanksgiving....I only have to buy the turkey. I cook for Christmas. Tradition says it is lasagna for which I enlist the help of my teenage girls. I leave any decorating to my teenagers. They enjoy putting out the decorations.....Not much help putting it all away though. :(