Christmas is 4 days away….how are you doing? Are you ready and waiting or is your ‘to do’ list so dang long that you know, even if you worked around the clock for the next 4 days, you will never get it all finished? Are you exhausted? Are you having any fun?

Most people that I know are in the 2nd category…not even close to being ready and totally stressed out. Which begs me to ask the question…..What does ‘being ready’ even mean?

Now, I love baking Christmas cookies.  I don’t usually bake during the year so Christmas is my time to let the flour fly (literally in my case).

I have a list of my usual recipes.  One of my most requested cookies is my sugar cookie.  The recipe comes from about 5 other recipes that I combined and I think I have perfected the perfect crisp cookie where the design does not ‘melt off’. Would you like the recipe? Of course you do….only it will have to wait until next year because…..I didn’t bake one cookie this year.

Did I hear you say ‘WHAT?! How can that be?’ I know I know. Super weird for me.

This has been a very different year for me.

My husband retired…..officially. I started blogging.  We moved to our lake house and have had tons of guests. I discovered crafting with the Cricut Maker. My YouTube channel ramped up and I have been videoing my card making. Busy busy busy.

Usually I start my Christmas gifts in February and finish about August.  That way I can make a few last minute things and enjoy the Christmas season. Because I still have cards to make, decorating, shopping, wrapping and baking.

But, not this year.  In fact, I didn’t even begin until mid October. Since I make all my gifts the clock was a-ticking.  (I will have a post in January showing you all that I made). And my list of things to make was long long long. I had a schedule in my head, knew what I needed to do and I was on track to get it all done….so I could be ready (here we are again…..being ready).

And then I found out that, due to hospital work scheduling, we were celebrating Christmas with my youngest daughter, Nicole and her husband, on December 5th. That was so exciting…but I kinda freaked out. I had about a 14 day notice (and we would be gone for 5 days during Thanksgiving). WHOA BABY….how was this even going to happen? I hadn’t purchased 1 gift and not all the items I wanted to make were finished yet. I call this ‘Craft stress’.  It is self imposed stress. Crazy huh? Does this happen to you as well?

Why am I telling you all of this? Because whenever time is your biggest commodity, and there is never enough of it, it is hard to put your own thoughts in order. We have our own mental lists. We set the bar really high and sometimes it is hard to lower it so that you can actually see over it….and not live under it.

Did I want to get it all done…yes! Was that going to happen….no! So, this is what I did. And it really helped me figure out my priorities and find out which was more important. I am hoping it will help you too.

I wanted to ‘get it all done and be ready’

But not at the risk of missing time with my family when I was with them.  (My poor husband knew I was going to be In my craft room for extended periods of time).
So I….

• Made a list of recipients for gifts.
• Made a list of gifts already made and counted how many I had of each.
• Looked at what I wanted to accomplish and cut it in half.
• Asked my December 5th Christmas peeps to send me their lists WAY before Thanksgiving.  Including links, sizes, colors and rankings in order of preference.
• Counted how many Christmas cards I had already made and compared that to my card list…I was about 50 short.
  • So, I stamped my images and took them with me and colored while I was away for Thanksgiving.  I chose the easiest cards to make (well, easy for me).
• Thought about all the Christmas traditions that Nicole loved…and worked towards putting those in place. Since she loves them so much they were very important to me. I wanted to ‘be ready’ for her.

This is what I did not do this Christmas season –

• Bake anything.  Not 1 thing.
• Host my ladies annual brunch. I have decided to keep my decorations up until January and host it then (we will all be less busy and maybe more people can attend!)
• Spend hours in the mall.  I shopped small businesses on Etsy instead.  Here is a good resource for you.  Bookmark Nicole’s shop for next year.
• Try to get it all done. I did what I could and forgot the rest.

This is the busy season.  And we are in the countdown….4 more days. What do you have left to do? Can you prioritize it? Cut your list in half? Maybe make a few cookies….just not dozens and dozens. Or, like me, none at all.

How about simple white tissue paper with a bow and a cute tag….rather than an elaborately wrapped gift?

How about having a hot drink and watching a few Hallmark Christmas movies with your peeps instead?

How can you s…l…o…w down?

As for me….
We had our 1st Christmas on the 5th.  Presents were wrapped and under the tree and all of our Christmas traditions were accomplished. We laughed, sat by the fire, watched movies and went for walks.  Meals were simple and easy to prepare. And it was awesome. Even without cookies.

I finished my cards when I went to visit my mom.  She worked on hers at the same time so that was really fun. (Hard to write and talk tho. And I have the worst handwriting ever).

And then I was done…..so, for the past 10 days or so I have been busy….but in a ‘no pressure’ type of busy.  Actually, I am working on cards for…..you guessed it….next year.  And that is fun! No pressure.

We will be celebrating Christmas again on the 29th with my son and his wife.  But guess what…..I am ‘all ready’ for them to come and visit. Ready mentally and emotionally. All the things are done…and we can just chill.

Christmas is an awesome season. 

We celebrate the birth of our savior. It is also a busy season….and I can overwhelm myself with ALL THE THINGS. You too?

For me, ‘are you ready’ means relationships, traditions (old and new), hope, laughter, hugs and love. NOT the gifts, crafts finished or cookies baked.

I would like to give your permission to slow down….take a deep breath….and cut your ‘to do’ list in at least half.  Figure out what ‘being ready’ really means to you. Maybe you need to change your definition – I know that I did. Watch a movie and hug everyone you know. Thank Jesus for giving you a 2nd chance and inviting you to ‘come home’.