I can’t believe that this year came and went so fast. I just got used to writing “2006” and my calendar is nearly full for 2007! (If we don’t have an appointment yet, I’ll just cancel my summer vacation and fit you in.)

Am I the only one; or is time moving faster? I think it is a good sign. I believe that the faster you move and create, the happier you are. And I can honestly say that this is the fastest and happiest time in my life.

Every year I vow that, come October, my holiday card will be up-to-date with our new family photo and the entire list will go out by December 1st. Yeah, right. Then every year we scramble and juggle and on Nov. 30th we find ourselves stuffing cards still dripping wet from the printer!

My Seasons Greetings list is enormous and, like most of you, it continues to grow every year. One day it will be so large that it will crash the computer and perhaps take the entire internet down with it. The administration on keeping it up-to-date clearly warrants hiring a few elves but my current staff which, sadly, includes no elves, will just have to make do.

Hey, I’m all about organization. Dec. 1 is the mail-out date so we have a couple of weeks of “embarrassment insurance.” We keep extra cards on hand because there is nothing like getting a holiday card from someone you forgot – Eek! You open the envelope: “Happy Holidays!” and rather than taking joy in getting a card from Cousin Bob you frantically check to see if he’s “on the list.” You neglect to note that the postmark is from a prison in upstate Ohio, you just want to make sure you get back to him before the 24th! Jot a little personal note wishing him luck with the parole board and everyone is happy, then a quick notation on the list to include him for next year.

By the by, one tough decision on holiday cards has to do with message. Should we go with Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings? Someone is bound to be offended so, if you want, send out a New Year’s card. We did that for years (granted, it may have started because we were too late for Christmas). Worked like a charm until we got so far behind that it arrived around Valentine’s Day and it really looked like we just forgot and dashed something out so we wouldn’t feel guilty.

More holiday madness—Why is it that I am not invited to any parties throughout the entire year and suddenly I get an invite to 3 parties the same night? I am not kidding. This year, on one particular day, I am going to a Hanukah celebration at noon, a neighborhood holiday party at 4:00 and a birthday bash with dear friends in the evening. Not too bad but sometimes the schedule overlaps and you spend all your time thinking about making the other parties and worrying about parking and “missing out” so much that you don’t really even get to enjoy the egg nog and mistletoe at any of them! Solution? Light a fire, snuggle up with your sweetie and sip on a hot-toddy.

Back to lists: the “Naughty or Nice” list. Another potential holiday faux pas is when someone shows up with a gift for you and you didn’t have them on your list. Jeez jeez Eloise—where are you now? This is where grab bags come in handy. I just buy a bunch of stocking stuffers and wrap them individually and have them in a basket under my tree. They include bath goodies, candy, wine, wind-up toys, books, etc. And there is nothing wrong with “re-gifting” which is a word that wasn’t around when I was a kid, but totally takes the embarrassment out of “Omygosh-we-didn’t-get-you-anything!” (Now, if you see me reach under my tree and hand you one of the above, this was absolutely planned.)

For parents or grandparents out there whose kids and grandkids are at the age where they are starting to dis-trust the notion of the man in red…here is something that just might carry you through one more year.

Long after the kids have gone to bed, the fire in the fireplace is out and the ashes are cold, put on a pair of hefty boots (sneakers will do in a pinch) and rub them in the fireplace ashes. Then walk around your livingroom with the shoes on, leaving the tracks of ash behind you! What a surprise on your kids’ faces when they see that Santa was there the night before! This is a sure-fire way of taking some of the madness out of the season!

Ho ho ho till next year,
Nancy