On Track For Christmas

I am proud to say the tree is up ,the outside is decorated, the packages that need to be mailed have been, the cards are written and will be mailed today, cookies for the office are done, any present that has come into the house has been wrapped. So heading into the last week toward Christmas.......I am in pretty good shape. There are still some gifts left to buy but nothing that I won't be able to find. My Christmas assistant Jenn has kept me on track. This afternoon we will bake some additional chocolate chips, try out some sugar cookies and thumbprints. We will make normal quantities......not like years past where there were cookies everywhere and many times I ended up doing the annual New Year's Day pitching of the cookies into the trash.

The ingredients are not cheap, I don't need the added temptations and it is a lot of work. Jenn has been a huge help with the baking. I do love watching her mix cookie batter knowing her Great Grandmother Raboni used the same recipes 70 plus years ago. We have recipes on paper, on the computer saved in various folders and on index cards. One of the official signs the holidays are approaching is the first phone call to ask for a recipe from a family member. There are strict family rules about cookie baking....only chocolate chips may be made any time of the year. All of the other recipes can only be made between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The rules have been explained at length to new family members and everyone abides by the rules.....as far as I know. Lord help the person who makes a pinwheel or thumbprint in July......I am sure something terrible will happen to them.....LOL. Jenn laughs as she pulls out either the index cards or paper recipes.....they are stained from the various ingredients used to make them.....the corners are dog eared and you can tell they have been handled so many times.

As I said earlier, this week will be pretty easy.......Jenn and I have to get those last cookies baked. We have to plan our holiday meals. We have decided to buy each other surprise gifts and here are the rules ....we can spend $5 each on a gift or gifts at Family Dollar, $10 on a gift at Big Lots and $15 on a gift at Target or KMart. There gifts will be opened at the end of the day on Christmas. For years we have always saved 3 gifts to open at the end of the day......it is fun to have something to end the day with......and since we are limiting the amount of money we can spend .....you have to be creative. My main goal is to have everything done by the time my head hits the pillow Friday night. I want Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to be just about doing whatever I want.

I am sure with Jenn's assistance that is exactly what will happen....