Scheduling

It's that time of year again, and this year it's started earlier than usual. The holidays are here, and our weekends are getting very busy very fast. Most of the holiday weekends are spoken for, and here's the basic schedule:

Thanksgiving:
Thursday: Mom
Friday: M's Mom
Saturday: M's Mom
Sunday: Chores, laundry, getting ready for Monday
Monday: Patio Door installation

Christmas:
Weekend before: Yule
Eve: Grandparents (x2)
Day: Famil(y|ies)
Weekend after: M's Dad (& brother)

New Year:
Eve: Work
Day:
2nd: Work

We will probably spend the weekend of Dec 6 & 7 cleaning up, painting, and reorganizing our dining room after the new door goes in. I'd like to have some sort of holiday thing at our place the weekend of Dec 13 & 14 -- even if it's just finger foods, cookies and spiced cider -- but I have to clear that with M first. There's not quite enough time to pull it together, but all the same there's a lot of friends we haven't seen very much this year.

I haven't decided if I'm baking Christmas cookies this year. I really missed it last year, and I may enjoy implementing a less ambitious program than previous Christmasses. Maybe we'll cut the cookie list down from 10-12 varieties to... 3-4.

Even though we were together for last year's holidays, they were fraught with Meeting The Parents anxieties and my constant coast-to-coast travel. This year feels more settled, if still a little hectic. I'd like to enjoy our friends and family, and celebrate that we finally have a space of our own that's big enough to host our loved ones. ^^

The most profound difference for me is that I really do want to celebrate. I have so much that I am deeply thankful for, and I'm genuinely happy right now. It sounds all mushy, but I don't remember a time in my life that has felt this full of peace, hope and happiness -- despite the change, chaos and frenzy going on around us.