129 Days Until Christmas

Did reading the title of this post make you want to throw up a little?

I despise feeling rushed through buying things for Christmas for my family, so this year I plan on taking a different approach.

First, I will make a list of who all I need to buy get things for. Then I will make a supplementary list of those I would like to get something for, but not necessary. For my kids and grand-cub, I will be using this guideline:

Something they want,

something they need,

something to wear, and

something to read.

Plus one, just one, thingy-ma-jigger from the fat, jolly man in Red.

Stockings are pretty much the same around here...every year, they can expect a new toothbrush, a package of chocolate something, and some Dollar store thingies, both personal care related and fun stuff.

I am making it my personal mission to keep the holidays this year to be less about stuff, and more about experiences. Spending time with family and friends, and doing something together.

Seeing as my kids who are old enough to read don't give a hoot about my blog, I'm going to start a separate page to keep track of the who, what, and how much of Christmas.

My personal goal this year will be to attend a Mass at a Roman Catholic church. I am not Catholic, but my husband was raised Catholic. None of our children have been baptised, because I would prefer them to choose to follow a religion of their own choosing because God speaks to them, not because of my influence. Having said that, I have been in attendance at funeral Masses on several occasions, and would like just once to see how Mass is run when the reason is celebratory.