Tag: Christmas

Your 2025 Holiday Peptalk

2025 is almost over. Winter holidays have arrived. My Yule decorations are up, my house is full of leftover turkey, and my playlist is going strong.

I am so glad to see this year go. It’s taken so much from me. I promise I won’t belabor this too much. It’s a downer for me, too. But most of my year was spent caring for the Darling Husband after a horrible stroke. He’s getting better now, but he still requires care throughout the day. My long-term critique job ended because the site folded. We had to move out of my dream apartment and are sharing a house with roommates for the first time in my life. And as if that all wasn’t enough, our beloved cat Harper died.

I don’t say all this to make anyone feel sorry for me. God knows life could be a lot worse. I say it all to let you know where I’m coming from. So when I say I’ll be spending the rest of the year doing whatever is needed to boost my holiday vibe, you’ll understand why.

If you see me on social media appearing way too cheesy and cheerful, mind your business.

And yet, all that’s happened to me this year is nothing compared to what so many have faced. Our country is in rough shape right now. People are losing jobs, losing loved ones, losing their very lives. People can’t afford to feed their families. People are afraid.

Joy to the world, indeed.

I swear, it feels like I’m singing carols and decorating my house while the world burns down around me. You might feel the same way. But here we are. The snow is falling, the calendars have just one page, and whether we’re ready or not, the holiday season is here. So, how do we handle it?

Don’t feel guilty

Do you enjoy the holidays? Great! Do all the holiday things you can. Watch all the movies. Listen to all the music. Wear the obnoxious sweaters. Post a million pictures of your decorations, food, and pets in silly costumes.

Please, post pets in silly costumes and tag me on Instagram. I want to see.

Don’t feel guilty about this. Yes, people are suffering right now. Yes, it can feel almost ghoulish to enjoy food and fun while people are not eating on the regular. But I want you to keep three things in mind.

One: depriving yourself of joy will not give joy to others. It will just mean there’s less joy in the world.

Two, you didn’t cause the suffering of others. I know, I feel guilty too. But we didn’t cause the exorbitant grocery prices. We didn’t ask ICE to kidnap our neighbors and family. We didn’t fire hundreds of government employees. None of us wants this to happen.

(Unless you voted for the current president, then you are absolutely at fault, and I hope you have the holiday you voted for.)

And three, while other people are struggling right now, you’re probably suffering too! You could probably use a little holiday cheer. If a peppermint mocha latte and a stroll through the Christmas lights feels like self-care to you, go do it!

Try to do good where you can

It’s always a good time to help others. But right now it might be needed more than ever. And it’s insanely convenient this time of year.

If you can, donate to food banks. Get something for Toys for Tots. Donate old clothes, toys, whatever you need.

If you haven’t got the extra money, that’s totally understandable. Is there a way you can donate your time? If not to an organization, maybe just in your neighborhood? Can you shovel a neighbor’s walk? Can you double a recipe and take some food over? What can you do to make someone’s day a little bit better?

We’re all in this together. We should do what we can to help.

Pivot!

For all the reasons we’ve already talked about, and a whole bunch more I don’t want to go into, you might not be able to do some of your holiday traditions this year.

Trust me, I’m right there with you.

It’s important right now to be flexible. And I get that the holidays are the time when details matter the most. The exact chocolates, the matching pjs from the same company, the specific trip to the specific store. With the specific person, of course.

Let me start by acknowledging that this is painful. Even if it seems silly, our traditions are traditions for a reason. One of the main reasons why the holidays are so important to us is that they’re so nostalgic. We cook the same things our parents made. We wear the same sorts of things as when we were little. We watch the same movies or TV shows that we watch every year. We read the same books we read every year. A disruption of that feels devastating.

But if we let ourselves get hung up on these details, we lose all chance of joy. And a little joy is nothing to take lightly.

I hope that your holiday season is full of rest, good food, and lots of books. I hope you get to spend it with someone you like. And I hope to see you around here again next week.

Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what I do here, please consider liking and sharing this post and leaving a comment. You can also support me financially on Ko-fi.

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My Holiday Planner Pages

It’s snowing as I write this. It looks so magical. I’m watching the big fluffy flakes fly past my windows, sipping coffee out of a festive snowflake mug.

The time has come, my friends. The time has come to start planning for the holidays. And I am so ready. So today, I want to share with you my holiday planning pages.

I celebrate Christmas and Yule. The Darling Husband’s birthday is also in December. And my best friend is Jewish, so I at least acknowledge Hanukkah and help her celebrate it. So this month is just bursting with things that need planning.

It’s fun! (Eye twitching)

Now, if you read my post a few weeks ago, it might surprise you to learn that I’m making paper planning pages for this. I just started keeping a digital planner.

And yes, I love my digital planner. I love Artful Agenda, and it is helping me organize everything. So let’s first talk about why I’m making a paper planner in addition to this and why you might consider doing so as well.

First of all, I want to make a paper planner. Having my holiday plans down on pretty paper gives me such a burst of endorphins. Checking off gifts as they arrive is just fantastic. I should also point out that my pages aren’t in a normal planner. They’re part of my memory-keeping scrapbook. So it’s part planning, part journaling.

This is something I’m going to rely on in the years to come. My previous years of planning helped me prep for this year. I can look back and see what I planned, what worked, and what didn’t work. What I planned to do that didn’t get done. What I thought I wanted to do, but realized after I really didn’t care to. Even better, I can see things I’ve always planned to do and really want to, but never get around to. With all of this information, I can plan better.

All of this planning is essential if you’re going to make the holidays happen without losing your mind. Because we all know that the holidays don’t just happen unless you’re a child. If you want the beautiful peppermint-flavored glowing moments, you have to make them happen.

So the planning has to happen. But when I scrapbook and handmake my planners, it makes planning into a holiday activity in itself. One just for me.

The holidays are about family, and that’s great. But to me, the holidays are speckled with little private, quiet traditions. Moments that I look forward to almost as much as the family events. I get to sit down with my scrapbook toys and a cup of good coffee. I get to set everything up and savor the anticipation. It is fantastic.

Finally, you all know I’m big on memory keeping. I love being able to look back at the warm, glowing holiday moments. That’s why I keep a memory scrapbook to start with. And this is the most important part of making a holiday scrapbook planner. I am building an infrastructure where all of my lovely memories can be collected. Otherwise, I’m moving too fast to capture anything for later.

Now, let’s talk about the pages themselves. These are the ones that I find most useful, and generally create every year. I’ll be including pictures as well.

Holiday events calendar

The first page, aside from the cover page, is a bullet journal-type holiday calendar. This one’s pretty self-explanatory. I write all of the days from Black Friday to New Year’s Day, and then any holiday events that are happening. I don’t think I need to go into more detail about this. It’s a calendar. We’re good.

Gift list

I probably won’t share a completed gift list page here, because at least two people I’m shopping for might stumble upon this. But it’s a decorative list of all the things I’d like to get for people. I also put an envelope full of decorative paper. So when I go out for the always popular Christmas Shopping trip, I can make a cute little list to take with me.

My holiday bucket list

I love making a bucket list for every season. They help me keep track of things I want to do, and help me make time for them among all the things I have to do. I track holiday books I want to read, movies and specials I want to watch, and all the things I want to do. Things like making mulled wine and creating an ice altar.

Holidays are busy as hell. While it might seem silly to write down things you want to, it helps. It makes these fun things a priority. And they should be.

My Yule Good Deeds List

I am a witch. And witches take care of their community. While I try to do this all year round, Yule is a time for me to really double down. So every day from December 1st to Yule day (Usually December 21st or 22nd), I try to do something nice for others. I’ll give extra donations, leave heartfelt comments online, and put Christmas cards out in public. Just something fun or nice to lift someone’s holiday spirits.

I like to keep track of these, first off, to keep myself accountable. But also because I inevitably am left with no ideas for creative good deeds by December 14th. Having a list of things I’ve done in the past is super helpful then.

If you’re a witch, or even if you’re not, you might also enjoy doing 21 days of Yule kindness. Put a little love into the world. It’s sure needed.

New recipes

I like collecting recipes in my holiday journal. First, because it’s easier for me to look at a piece of paper than a screen when I’m baking. Second, because I like to keep track of what I tried from year to year. It’s another form of memory keeping.

Journaling pages

Finally, I have several pages decorated for the purpose of journaling. For collecting pictures, I take. For lists of the best memories, best moments. For the best gifts, both physical and not. Because those are the things I’ll treasure in the years to come. Not the food, which will be gone in a flash. Not the things we buy each other. But the memories of loved ones enjoying time together making the darkest days of the year the brightest.

I hope this post gives you some ideas for making your holidays more organized, more joyful, and more centered on things you and your family actually enjoy doing. Now, it’s your turn. Let us know in the comments your favorite holiday tradition.

Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what I do here, please consider liking and sharing this post and leaving a comment. You can also support me financially on Ko-fi.

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Free and low cost holiday ideas

The holidays are expensive. This isn’t a huge shocker, I know. And if you’re a writer and not John Grisham, money is probably tight. I know it is for me.

It’s so easy this time of year to feel like we must miss out on things. Like the lack of numbers in our bank account is holding up holiday joy. And it just shouldn’t be that way. Christmas shouldn’t have a price point for entry.

So today, I want to share some things that I do every holiday season that cost little or no money. Because while I’m on a budget now, I used to be dead broke. And this is how I made the holidays special.

Read

I have a full list of Christmas books that aren’t romance. I posted them here, here and here. I also wrote my own collection of Christmas stories, if you’re interested.

Reading is maybe my favorite solo activity during the holidays. And while reading is always a treat, there are ways to amp it up. I think reading with the electric fireplace on and a nice hot mug of Earl Gray tea with a slice of orange in it makes the whole experience next level. Before I had an electric fireplace, I was obsessed with fireplace videos on YouTube. I still use those if I’m reading in the bedroom, rather than lugging the fireplace all over the house.

We’ll talk more about YouTube soon.

Crafting

This will look different for everyone. And it’s something that I’ve leaned hard on ever since my first (very broke) Christmas on my own. Decorations, gifts, cards. These are all expensive, and they can be crafted.

On my first Christmas out, I made origami ornaments for our pathetic little tree. I drew portraits of my family in a circus. I hand-stitched a teddy bear. Over the years my family has received hand-knit and crocheted scarves, blankets and fingerless gloves.

While I’m in a better position this year, my loved ones are still getting handmade gifts. I crocheted my grandmother a sweater, which I can say safely here because she doesn’t read this blog.

Well, you might be thinking, that’s all well and good for someone handy with yarn and such. Or paint, sketch or pottery. What are the people who don’t craft supposed to do?

The answer is that there is always something you can create. For instance, my grandma is also getting a casserole dish of homemade mac and cheese, a dish she doesn’t need to return, with a nice note telling her the time and temperature to bake it.

You can cook something, take pictures, make fire cider, or make cute ornaments from a tutorial on Instagram. Or, since I’m assuming you’re a writer if you’re here, you could write something!

A handmade gift doesn’t need to be a traditional handmade gift. It can be anything that you create that someone else will value.

Repurpose decor in your home for holidays

So, we’ve got gifts out of the way. So, what about decorations? Well, there are lots of ways you can simply move things, and reorganize them. And make your home festive without buying new things.

I decorate my house plants with ornaments. I collect red and green books from the house to place in specific places. I leave my Christmas mugs or just ones that happen to be green or red, out on the counter where they can brighten up the place. When I’m putting out a hand towel or washcloth in my kitchen, I reach for the holiday-colored ones. Look over your home and belongings as though they’re all brand new. Get creative. And let me know what you come up with.

Forage

I love pinecones this time of year. I am also blessed to live in Western PA, where pinecones are plentiful. So are holly and pine. I can take a simple walk to a nearby wooded area and collect things to decorate my home and alter. I can make all sorts of things. People make some truly amazing things out of sticks, yarn and paint.

And, if you’re witchy inclined like I am, natural-made ornaments also match a more Yule-centered vibe. The whole reason we decorate trees is because people brought them in so the wood spirits would have somewhere warm to spend the darkest nights.

Just be careful your foraged goods aren’t harboring tiny pests. You want to invite wood spirits, not woodlice.

Check for local events that might not cost anything.

God bless my local library. They are doing all sorts of events for the holidays. Concerts, craft nights. There was even a local author event to help people out with their Christmas shopping.

Yes, I was there, and yes it was a delightful time.

We are blessed to have a local symphony as well, and they do free concerts every week. I am willing to bet that you have something local that is awesome and exciting. Check your local library website and any other cultural organizations you have. You’ll be amazed at what you can enjoy for no money.

YouTube’s holiday content is vast

Then, of course, there’s the question of Christmas TV. Everyone wants to cozy up and watch something festive and nostalgic this time of year.

But if streaming isn’t in your budget right now, don’t despair. YouTube has some fantastic holiday content. Garfield’s Christmas, those claymation videos everyone seems to like, clips of Pentatonix concerts. If you are looking for holiday watching, you will find it on YouTube.

Spending time is the best gift

This one is a bit cliche, but it’s true. The best thing about the holidays is spending time with people you love. Your family, your friends, your pets. Spend as much time with them as you can. Bake together, read together, go walking and look a the Christmas decorations together. (Oliver especially loves this one.) Decorate the house together, make homemade cards together. Break out the board games if your family likes that sort of thing. Put on matching PJs and take a million bad pictures. Because that’s what everyone’s going to treasure in the latter years. That’s the point of the holidays, to hold onto warmth and brightness during the darkest and coldest nights of the year.

I have, over the years, written several gift guides that include inexpensive or free gifts for readers and writers. If you’re interested, you can find them here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Now, it’s your turn. What is your favorite no-cost way to celebrate the holidays? Let us know in the comments.

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2024 Holiday Pep Talk

It’s the day after Thanksgiving as you’re reading this. It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving as I’m writing this. And it’s time, finally, to start celebrating the most wonderful time of the year.

In theory.

I have never felt less holiday spirit than I do this year, you guys. I cannot begin to tell you. I feel like Charlie Brown. There must be something wrong with me. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.

Of fucking course I don’t. It’s November 25th and the high for today is 51 degrees. No fault divorce is under attack in America, safe and legal abortions are in jeopardy. It’s about to cost more to buy literally everything and a wrestling promoter is about to be in charge of our country’s education. So yeah, deck those halls or whatever.

Frankly, I don’t think it’s fair to say things are about to get bad. Things have been bad, my friends. They’re about to get worse.

Now, as far as I see it, we have two choices going into the holiday season. We can say fuck it, drink our way through the holidays, and half-ass everything. Or, we can do whatever we can to bring ourselves and the people we care for joy.

Despite my bitching and (more than usual) swearing in this post, I plan to do the latter. Because this is not the first hard holiday season I have faced. And I have learned a crucial lesson from the losses and crises that I’ve survived.

Multiple things can be true at once. I can be sad and thankful. I can be scared and hopeful.

I’m worried about the future of my library. And I’m excited about all the events they have planned for the holidays. I’m afraid our grocery bill is going to balloon, and thankful that we have food in our house. I’m afraid for all of my friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and thankful to have them in my life. I’m worried about my husband and grandmother’s health, and happy I get to share the holidays with them.

This has been a hard year, personally and globally. But it hasn’t been all bad. I have lots of things to be grateful for.

My husband went to the hospital several times and we had some scary moments. But he is still here with me.

I relaunched Woven and published book five of Station 86.

I’ve experienced growth in my faith and have a better relationship with God than I ever have.

I have had a hundred beautiful, wonderful, wildly unexpected moments of joy this year. People have been kind to me, or I’ve had the opportunity to be kind to them in a way that enriched my soul.

My little hometown is becoming vibrant and alive. Rather than stores closing down, stores are opening up.

My witchy community is growing, and I am meeting sisters and brothers to share magic with.

We can hold both of these things at the same time, our sorrow and our joy. It is the only way any people have ever survived dark times. Being happy for the holidays doesn’t mean we don’t care about people suffering or that we aren’t suffering ourselves. Being sad about the state of things doesn’t mean we don’t feel gratitude for the good things and beloved people in our lives.

Be kind to each other, but more than that be kind to yourself. And don’t waste a second of your time on anyone who is trying to take your joy away from you.

Merry and Blessed and Happy everything. Find joy and solace in all the good things you can and all the good people around you.

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2022 Holiday Gift Guide

Everyone’s got a list of holiday gifts this time of year. And I’m no different. I always post a writer’s gift guide, because I know writers are hard to shop for.

I don’t know why we’re hard to shop for. I don’t think we’re any harder to shop for than anyone else. 

I think everyone’s hard to shop for. Except for witches. Witches are easy to shop for. We always need more crystals, empty jars, and candles.

This isn’t going to be a long list of cool things, though. If you want physical gift suggestions, check out Instagram. I am getting nothing but gift suggestions on there right now. 

No, this year I only have two gift suggestions. And the great thing is, they’re both guaranteed to fit anyone. 

Time

There is nothing in this world that will matter more to the people you love than spending time with them. Not even a blanket with all the words to their favorite book will take the place of time.

So get creative with your time together. Here are some things I’m doing. 

Reading in bed with the darling husband.

Watching holiday movies together.

Taking Oliver on long walks to see all the decorations. 

Going to coffee with my best friends.

Helping my grandmother decorate her house. 

Making one of those fancy spread boards for holiday meals. 

I carve out as much family and friend time as possible. I do this by putting all business writing on hold for the last two weeks of the year. I keep holiday meals on the less stressful side so I’m spending less time in the kitchen. Using my crock pot a lot. I finished all my gift shopping before Black Friday. I also dramatically decreased the gifts I bought and asked for.

Take a look at your time, and see what you can cut back on to make space for family and friend time. 

Experiences

Nice things are nice, but experiences are better. So instead of buying things, consider planning experiences. They don’t have to be expensive. Here again, are some fun suggestions.

Go to a local museum. 

Plan a potluck craft day with friends. Get everyone to bring some craft supplies. One person brings glue, one brings scrapbook paper, that sort of thing.

Do a holiday book swap. I bet you have some books around that you don’t care for anymore, and your friends probably have the same. Get together with some coffee and tea, and swap books. 

If you haven’t finished your shopping, grab some friends who are also still shopping and go together. Even better, gather at someone’s house with your laptops, take out food and do some online shopping.

My local plant shop has a make-your-own succulent bar. It’s always a good time. Check around and see what fun events you have around you. Something you always say you’re going to do, but never seem to have the time. 

Give this gift to yourself, too

For an introvert like me, time alone is a vital part of self-care. And as much as I love time with my family and friends, I have to give myself time alone as well.

So, I’m taking myself on solo coffee dates. I’m making sure to prioritize mediation time. I’m reading alone by my little electric fire. I’m making tea and having it with no one. 

My point here is this. Things are nice, I’m not trying to shame anyone who asks for physical things. I for sure asked for physical things. But don’t focus so much on those. Give your loved ones, and yourself as well, the gifts of time and experience. Those are the gifts you’ll all treasure the most. 

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More holiday books that aren’t romance

Every year I find myself engaged in the same hunt. The hunt for a great holiday book that isn’t about two people in Christmas sweaters falling in love in an unlikely situation. 

And apparently, a lot of you do, too. Because when I gave you a list of six holiday books last year, over 600 of you read it! 

Honestly, I’m so touched. And so I had to get together another collection. Here are five more holiday books that are not romance, that I’ve experienced since last year. I hope you enjoy it.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Christmas with the Kranks was based on this book. As if we needed more proof that books are almost always better.

Luthor, our main character, gets the brilliant idea to skip Christmas and go on a cruise with his wife instead. He doesn’t decorate his house, doesn’t buy gifts, and doesn’t donate to any charities. His neighbors are baffled by this and proceed to make his life miserable.

It’s cute, it’s fun, and it makes me thankful for my own holiday traditions. 

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

I’m not going to lie, this book wasn’t my cup of peppermint mocha tea. And that was a disappointment. I thought I was going to like this book. The story is about a little boy who sees Santa get brutally murdered. He makes a wish, and the wrong angel hears him. The stupidest angel. An angel stupid enough to bring a zombie into a little coastal town.

The comedy in this book just didn’t grab me. It was a lot of sex jokes and off-color humor. Not that I have any problem with blue comedy when it’s funny. This just wasn’t. But of course, comedy is subjective. If you like a funny tale, maybe give this one a try. 

The Christmas Killer by Alex Pine

Some holiday murder mysteries are just regular murder mysteries with a wreath on the door. But this is a cute-as-hell killing spree with Christmas cards left at each murder. Add to that the fact that it’s set in a quaint little British town, and I was hooked. It’s exactly what I want in a Christmas murder mystery. Cute, cozy, and bloody as hell.

The Joy of A Christmas Peanuts 

This is a Hallmark gift book, and I do not care at all. It’s a collection of Christmas Peanuts strips, with some cute character information between them. I have purchased this book second-hand three times. And I always love cozying up with it and a good cup of coffee for some quiet holiday fun.

Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien

This might be my favorite addition this year. In addition to being an astounding writer who birthed the fantasy genre, Tolkien was a great father. He wrote his children letters for Christmas, from ‘Father Christmas’ himself. These letters are warm, fuzzy goodness on a page. And I look forward to reading these over again every year. 

What holiday books have you discovered this year? Let us know in the comments. 

Smashwords/Amazon

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Make Space For Your Joy

This won’t be a long post today. It’s Black Friday and we all have things to do. You might be shopping today. You might be working today. You might be cleaning up after a massive family event from yesterday and gearing up for about seven more before the New Year.

Today I’m decorating the house for Yule and Christmas. I’m wrapping gifts, writing cards and baking cookies. My goal for the next month is to spread as much holiday joy for my friends and family members (especially the furry ones) as I can. 

But I need to remember, and you need to remember, that we matter too. 

We deserve to enjoy the holidays. 

We deserve to have fun and play like children. 

We deserve to find magic this time of year. 

We deserve to say no to anything we don’t want to do.

We deserve joy. 

And I’m telling you right now that no one is going to make space for your joy if you don’t make it. No one’s going to clear your calendar. No one is going to make time for you if you don’t make time for yourself.

I’m not saying that the people who love you are slacking. I’m saying that what counts as joy for us isn’t always obvious. It is up to us to spoil ourselves. To make our joy happen. 

So please, tell me what you’re doing today to make space for joy. I’m drinking a peppermint mocha latte while I read A Christmas Carol on my couch. What about you? 

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It’s time for another holiday pep talk

It’s November, and it’s time to have the talk. The same talk we have every year. Sorry not sorry, we’re gonna talk about it again.

As much as we all want to pretend otherwise, this holiday season is going to look an awful lot like last holiday season. Supply lines are backed up. Everyday items and festive goodies are hard to find. More than a few have lost their jobs or had their hours drastically cut. Many of us will be celebrating the days with empty seats at our tables. Some buried loved ones. Some had to cut toxic family members out of our lives. 

It’s likely you, like me, aren’t entering into this festive season in the best of spirits. 

I still want to celebrate. I want to have fun. I want to bake and watch festive movies. I want to enjoy good food and time with the people I love. And I want to enjoy good stories. 

So I’m here again to give you four pieces of advice to get you through this season. Listen, we need the holidays. We need bright moments of joy. We need cats playing in wrapping paper, Yule logs burning, good meals, and great moments.

We’ve gotten through tough years before, as a society. Wars and Depressions. I don’t know you, but I bet you’ve gone through some tough holidays yourself. After death or divorce. After losing a job or a fight.

I’ve had holidays so broke every gift came from the Dollar Tree. I’ve buried a grandmother in mid-December. I’ve changed religions and lost the comfort of a Church family to celebrate with. I’ve had a holiday season after a bad divorce.

This year, we’re in a new home and we are struggling, cash-wise. Health has been a concern this year. And some other things I can’t talk about yet.

But I’ll be damned if I’ll take my current pleasure away from myself. And here’s how I’m going to do it. 

Prioritize like hell

You know my favorite thing in this whole wide world is a list. So when I started planning for this season, I made my list by priority. It’s hard to do it, but you’ve got to. Sit down and think about what you’d want to do if it’s the only thing you do. 

The top of my list is watching Elf with my husband on Christmas Eve. Right after that is having a fancy charcuterie board dinner on Yule. And third is reading holiday books under a blanket with a fire video on the tv and Harper on my lap. 

Yes, there are other things. Simpsons episodes and about a million movies. Lots of recipes to make and decorate. But you know what? If I don’t get to do any of those things, then I guess that’s what happens. I know what I’ll sacrifice, and what I won’t. Because what we make a priority gets done.

Get as much off your plate now as you can

You may have noticed on social media that I’ve been talking a lot about this. I’m batch writing all of my blog posts through the end of the month and scheduling them. Both for here and Haunted MTL. (Except my reviews of Dexter, New Blood. By the way, I’m live-tweeting during every episode over on Twitter. Follow Haunted MTL so you don’t miss it.)

I’m finishing a rough draft this month during Nanowrimo of course. I’m writing scripts for an upcoming podcast. 

And then in December, I am doing as little as freaking possible.

So if I’ve got to go all over town to find Christmas crackers, I damn well can. So if I want to spend my whole weekend reading and baking cookies, I damn well can. And if I just want to sit with some hot chocolate and watch the snow (or rain) fall, I damn well can. 

If it goes well, I might just set up my goals next year so I can take all of December off then too. 

Now, I’m still going to have to go to my day job. As already mentioned, I’ll still have episodes of New Blood to watch and review. I’ll still be updating social media. 

But that’s not near as much as I’ve been doing. And it’s nice, to worry not about what I need to do, but what I want to do. 

So what can you get off your plate this month, so you can play and celebrate next month? 

Be flexible

Christmas just won’t be Christmas without the special sugar cookies your family has been making for five generations. That’s gonna be a real hard sell if the one ingredient you need is on a boat stuck in a loading bay by customs.

If you’re not already noticing a supply chain issue, I’m surprised. Every time I go to the store it feels like half of what I normally get is just not there. And what is there is sure as hell more expensive than it was last year. 

Look, we’re going to have to get flexible this year. We’re going to have to settle for less than we want, for not the perfect picture. And it’s not great. 

But it’s better than letting yourself get into a tear because you have to get creative. Be aware, be prepared, and be flexible. 

Be patient

I mean this last one in two ways. First of all, be patent with your fellow man. Everyone is going through something right now. I already went over that in the intro. Yeah, it’s easy to get pissy when someone’s being a bitch in public. You might even want to be that person losing it because there is not anything in the grocery store your child will eat, and that quarter-filled cart is still going to set you back eighty bucks. But please, for the love of God remember that we are all humans. We’re all trying to get through something that sucks at best. And not all of us are getting out of it alive.

Be patient with people, and be patient with yourself. Take time to rest, get help when you need it. And if you lose your cool at your mother-in-law over Thanksgiving dinner, maybe just apologize and forgive yourself.

I truly hope you have the happiest of holidays, no matter what that looks like to you this year. We all deserve that warmth and light at the end of a long year. Enjoy what you have to enjoy, love who you have to love. 

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Last minute gifts you still have time for

It’s December 18th. We’re a week away from Christmas Day. And it’s 2020. Going to the store is a bad idea. Ordering online is a great idea, if you did it several weeks ago. Now it’s too late to to be sure of shipping. At least without ensuring gouging shipping fees and the eternal hatred of your mail carrier. 

Alright, so what are you supposed to do if you haven’t gotten something for someone yet? You can order something and just accept that they’ll get it late. That’s fine, absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can pretend it got lost in the mail, but that’s a dick move. 

But those aren’t your only options! You can still get your loved ones a gift that they’ll love. Here are four ideas. 

Subscriptions

Subscription services are awesome, and they’re great gifts. They’re something that can be appreciated all year long. Spotify, Netflix, Hulu. For story lovers there’s Serial Box. No matter what your loved one is into, you can find a subscription for them. 

Homemade gifts

Not just for children! As adults I think we forget that homemade gifts can be treasured just as much as store bought. 

Now, I’m not suggesting this is the time to get out the knitting needles. If you didn’t start a big project like that in September you’re probably not getting it done. 

That being said, there are some great things you can make. Sea salt with some lavender buds, sage, orange peel or rose petals is a lovely gift. If you’ve got little ones you forgot, you can whip up a container of homemade play dough. Or just make the dough yourself and make some handmade ornaments. 

If you’re a fan of baking, a batch of cookies or a cake might be a great gift. Clutter free, too. 

Printable gifts

If you’ve got a printer, look into this. I spent some time on Etsy and found some of the cutest things. Printable games, gift tags, paper dolls. And I mean like really awesome paper dolls. Like, I might get some of these for me dolls. (I’m thirty-four, I can play with dolls if I want to.) Seriously, the imagination put into these things is just amazing. 

There’s nothing wrong with a gift card

Honestly, this is a tried and true gift. This is what I got my best friend’s kids a gift card for Hanukkah. Do you remember being a kid and getting a gift card? How fun was that? It’s a little credit card that you can spend on what you want like a grown up!

All hope is not lost. You can still get a great gift for your loved ones. It just might take some thinking out of the box.

I hope this helps you guys have a great holiday season. If these tips were helpful, let me know in the comments. 

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