Somehow, amazingly I’ve managed to keep to my plan of doing a little bit of preparation towards Christmas every day. I don’t do big things – it’s more along the lines of ordering the turkey or buying chestnuts and wrapping paper. The tree and putting up the decorations are planned for Saturday, with my eldest daughter pleading to take the lead – well, I certainly won’t say no to that!!

So, slowly but surely I feel like we’re getting there- and so far without any panic or stress. It was a great feeling to take Ilsa’s quilt to the post office this week, along with the last of the Christmas cards – so all the things that need to be sent are done. Now I can think of presents for the family (the younger generation of which seem to have some very extravagant requests!) and food.

I’ve actually started baking Guetzli – Swiss Christmas cookies – but only one sort at a time and at a very leisurely pace. The slow deliberation of it all means that I’m really taking the time to savour the moment and enjoy what I’m doing.

The weather is awful this week – stormy and raining – so I’m trying to make the house as welcoming as I can for the poor souls coming in out of the cold – candles are lit and cookies are waiting along with lovely wintery comfort food – chilli con carne, casseroles and fruit crumbles. It’s nice to feel that the house really feels cosy when the family come in and even the teenagers have been caught (in a rash moment) commenting on how nice it all feels.

I think the key seems to be keeping it slow and simple and actually savouring the season rather than rushing to be onto the next thing that needs to be completed. I purposely didn’t organize much of a social life this month and I’m so glad – we really have enough going on on our own and it’s just given us extra time and quiet to relax and enjoy.

I may still end up in a last minute maelstrom of activity and stress, but I hope not. This year I really want to enjoy Christmas and not be all stressed out like I normally am!

Happy third advent week to you all!

Helen

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.