The Christmas Season [RANTINGS]

Clearly, National Novel Writing Month was a bust for me this year. I'd feel more guilty if I were not the only one keeping tabs on where that tale was going. Still, I feel the need to open up my brain and share for the holiday season, particularly since I realized I have some old posts that I started writing and forgot to finish. This December, consider what I hope will be a plethora of posts my Christmas present to you.

The title of this first post promised to address thoughts on the Christmas season. I feel equipped to speak since my giving began already. While other people were pushing each other through department store doors and scrambling for alleged bargains at major shopping centers, I presented my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law with gifts that needed to be given at the beginning of the holiday season, advent calendars made with my own hobbit hands. They were both pleased and grandma even leaned in conspiratorially to encourage me to keep thinking up gifts to make for her. While I always have a small part of my mind searching for great gift ideas that say I love you, I hope to to focus on some of the more important aspects of Christmas this year.

My to seasonal do list includes:

1. Reading the scriptures in search of my own perfect advent scriptures for future holiday celebrations. I borrowed some from another website this year since I was pressed for time when I remembered that I had begun work on this project at the end of last December. (I always get inspired during the holiday and never find time until it is over to put forth the effort required to make more Christmas magic.)
2. Make a mix of Christmas cookies and candy for those special people on my list who always inspire me to be a little sweeter. I fear I will not have the time or energy to make all of my favorite candies from chocolate covered cherries to maple creams, but we will see. If you just realized you are on the coveted candy list, cross your fingers and pray for me.
3. Get enough sleep to fend off the invasion of sicknesses that circulate at this time of year and be pleasant to those around me.
4. Be grateful for my everyday blessings and the gifts I receive, even the ones that confuse me such as the year I was given a bottle of wine.
5. Commit to a few ideas for future Christmases that will make wonderful memories for my daughter and bring our family closer together.
6. Stop worrying so much about lists and enjoy time with those I love.

I wonder what goals my astute readers would like to share with me...

(P.S. In case you didn't notice, I have moved the identifying tags to the end of the title of each post. I hope this helps clean up the look of this journal.)