It's November!

First Christmas movie of the season-check!

Played first Christmas cd of the season-check!

Brought first tub of decorations up from the basement-check!

It's time ladies!

My goals will be a bit different this year as my life has changed quite a bit since last year. I hurt my back and therefore I can't lift anything so I am relying on my husband more than ever to help with the holidays. So far he has brought up 3 tubs from the basement with holiday decor. I am proud of him for that.

We have Molly, who is a great dog actually, but she is only 5 months old and she is 45 pounds. She acts 5 months old and she just doesn't know how big she is. We aren't having a TN Thanksgiving at our house because we sold our dining room table (story below) and Molly might not be able to handle it just yet. We always do our TN Thanksgiving early in November anyway because everyone is so busy and so many in my family go out of town. I think this year, if I host, I will host it at the camp in the Pathway Cabin. We do this for Christmas for my side of the family so it will be normal, and easy on the parking and setup and cleanup and all that.

I sold my dining room table. I found a set I really liked on Craigslist and my husband told me I should sell ours before we bought a new one. So, like the good wifey I listed ours. I listed it for more than we paid for it being a bit ambitious, and also not wanting to really sell it until I was sure about the other set. Well, we didn't like the other set. We did sell ours first, and for full asking price! I am not buying a new set before Christmas. So, my dining room will get a larger Christmas tree and a 9ft folding table set up as a buffet for all parties. Perfect for mingling, only.

Here are a few things I have done to prepare for the holidays so I don't stress out. I refuse to have a stressful holiday!

Organize your "holiday" recipes-having these ready to go will save you the hunting time later

Address your Christmas cards-buy the Christmas stamps now and get them addressed while you still have time.

Mentally plan your decorating-I have a mental plan of what tree goes where, what room I am starting in first, and so on.

Have a great day!