Hello, and welcome back to The Christmas Calmdown, where we're planning ahead for a calm December! The Christmas Calmdown is co-hosted by myself and my cousin Ainsley of Pattycake Manners.


Oh my goodness. It's September 29. SEPTEMBER 29!!! That means two things...


One, that I'm late posting the September installment of "The Christmas Calmdown," and...


Two...in just a few short days, it's October. We're into the double digits.

In my wacky world, when the calendar flips to October and therefore "double digits," Christmas, well...it's just around the corner.  This is a cause for excitement, but for those of us who are trying to be organized, we become aware that "planning ahead" has transitioned into simply "planning." In short, it's time to put our best laid plans into action.

This is actually going to be a rather short post, because I want you to go find that Christmas Planner we discussed back in February and do some posting of your own. Go through it. Don't be discouraged if there are empty pages (I won't lie...mine isn't as full as I'd like it to be.) BUT, if you've been following along, you've been mentally taking stock and giving the holidays some advance consideration, probably more so than you ever have before. So, grab your favorite pen, and a hot cup of tea, and make your "Real" holiday "to do" list. 


In preparation for this post, I went back and read the earlier Calmdown posts. It really helped to get me on track with what I want to accomplish this holiday season. And, oh my goodness, we've covered a lot! Gifts, cards, cooking, making time for loved ones and pets...so many aspects to the holidays that we never really consider during the hustle and bustle. But this year, this year I really do feel calmer. As I read through the posts, I was mentally checking off items on my list. All those decisions that so often get made "last minute" are this year going to be well thought out with confidence. And so, over the next few weekends, I will be committing my "real" holiday to-do list to my planner. 


Because then? THEN the real fun begins! Stay tuned...we've still got three months to go!