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Time to get ready for Christmas
Time to get ready for Christmas
By Kim "Kringle" Alba
Pacific Daily News
Move over, Halloween. It's Christmas time.
If you're trying to ward off the fact that the holiday season has already started, too late.
How do you maintain sanity? Make a list. Even Santa Claus -- the ultimate guru of all things jolly about Christmas -- has a list.
There are so many lists you can make -- whom to give presents, whom to give cards, where to buy presents, what wrapping supplies you need, what decorations you want, grocery lists for those special recipes, even cleaning materials you need to spruce up your home -- and so much more.
Starting out
One of the first things to do is get your home ready for the holidays.
In my home, this means lots of cleaning. Then you can take out the decorations and sort through them. Throw out the ornaments that have become damaged and decide if you need to get new ones. If you do need to replace the decorations and parts such as bulbs, add these items to your shopping list.
Another list that's good to get done early is the gift-receiver list. This helps you come to terms with your budget, and helps you early on with gift strategies.
Do you give gifts only to the kids? Do you pull names for Secret Santas? Once you have your answers, you can start thinking about gift ideas.
You can get into the spirit of Christmas and write your lists on holiday-themed stationery. You can download templates of lists for free off the Net. There are several types of templates -- from planning guides to shopping lists, calendars to card or gift lists.
A cool site comes courtesy of an island halfway around the world, Prince Edward Island. The Canadian province has an "Island Christmas" page on its official government Web site that offers a neat Christmas list maker. I made a standard holiday to-do list and list of the some other Kringle family members for whom I need to get presents.
It seems like a lot. In these tough times, it may be easier to be like the Grinch or Scrooge and just say "Bah Humbug!" to it all. But it's Christmas -- a time to be joyful. And that's why I'm here, to guide you right up to the BIG DAY.
So make your list, check it twice, and you'll find the holidays are really quite nice.
Kim "Kringle" Alba is the assistant local news editor of the Pacific Daily News and is short and sprightly like an elf.
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