Christmas Planning in July

Hanging our ornaments is my favorite, our tree is a hodgepodge of sentimental ornaments.

As the end of July is fast approaching I have to begin my planning for the only holiday we actually celebrate. CHRISTMAS!!!

We hate the 4th of July, we have dogs and the endless fireworks from June until August drive our dogs crazy and us.

I don’t do Easter, I went to Catholic school, and every year we re-enacted the Stations of the Cross, I have a lifetime worth of mental scarring from all of that.

New Year’s Eve, I haven’t stayed up for in 10 years.

Valentine’s Day is every day for us. So why pay extra for it on one day of the year.

Thanksgiving is a bunch of lies.

The beach is best in December I don’t care what anyone says, summer is overrated.

If it were up to me we would nix Christmas also with all the consumerism it entails, but compromises have to be made in a partnership, and Michael LOVES Christmas. To curtail some of that dreaded consumerism, we try to make the holiday about time with each other not a stockpile of toys. We give the boys gifts but we try to put a reasonable cap on it, and they go through their existing toys and clothes so that we can make donations. Family activities are our priority: ornament making, LA Zoo Lights, Universal Studios, Disneyland, baking cookies, stroll on the beach, walking through neighborhoods with the best Christmas lights, reading Christmas stories from around the world, non-stop Christmas music, and making handmade gifts.

Los Angeles Zoo Lights is a highlight for us every year.

So, now that it is July, it is time for me to look at the savings we have set aside for Christmas and begin to budget it out. I look at the Amazon wish list we have compiled over the last couple of months, and we separate what grandparents, uncles, and aunts will be getting the kids and what we will. I have to budget out the cost of food for the holiday breakfast, the Christmas tree, and then estimate, plan and purchase the activities we will be doing. If I don’t do all this work in advance, my husband tends to go overboard. Well, I can’t blame it all on him though, part of the reason I have to do all the planning  now is that the stress of the holiday season, the changes in the weather, and any number of other factors of my diseases can bring our lives to a grinding halt. I have to have plans and have contingency plans for the inevitability of my diseases messing with our lives. Everything takes me more time than I would like, everything that I do expends more energy than I have. Pain and fatigue are a part of my families daily life, and it changes how everything in our life operates.

We have walked these same streets to look at Christmas lights for the past 12 years. It’s called Candy Cane Lane in our area.

Best Wishes,

Lupus