Christmas Club - January!


Well, if you have stumbled upon me today not knowing that I was planning on preparing for Christmas please don't run for the hills screaming that Christmas is coming soon, you haven't fallen asleep for a really long time, Christmas Day was really only one month ago and the big event for 2010 is still a whole 11 months away... but who doesn't like to be prepared before the big event?

If you too want to prepare for Christmas, then you are welcome to join me! And if you have any ideas or suggestions the comment box is always open! What I am planning on doing is each month tackling a small area of Christmas planning as well as the planning for celebrations in the month. Like for example today is Burns Night, and so last month I made sure that as I was going to have a small celebration with my family that I would remember to buy a Turnip for neeps and tatties to go with the mince and onion. (And tomorrow we will have Stovies, but thats another story)

Today however I am going to walk around the house and make sure all Christmas items are away, I know Top Ender and I know there will be a couple of decorations hidden somewhere in her room... and I also know that there is a box of Christmas paper still to go up into the loft in my bedroom.

I am also going to catalogue the gifts that were given to me this Christmas that I won't use and so are either going to regift (not to the person who gave it to me) or take to a Charity Shop. For example next to my bed is a bottle of Red Door perfume which my Mum loves and my Great Nan got confused and thought I loved. But on me Red Door doesn't smell as nice as it does on my Mum!




I must admit this year I have been really bad and still haven't handed out thank you notes. It isn't too late to give them, and just a quick reminder if you haven't sent yours don't say you have been busy and that is why you haven't written them! Say something along the lines of "Please forgive me for not having expressed sooner how greatful we were for your lovely..." and please remind me to follow my rules for writing Thank you notes next time.




Seeing as I am going to be writing I will also make note of Good ideas from the Christmas just gone that I liked or the children like. For example this year we sprinkled glitter on the driveway for Santa to use as a Landing Marker. It was such a simple thing to do, but it was great and we had fun doing it as a family.

This is also a great time to note down things that I know other people might like, and if needs be put a copy of the ideas in with the Christmas decorations. A few years back a family friend joked when we gave him and his wife a lamp for Christmas that for the last four years we had slowly been replacing the furniture in thier living room and would we be buying him a three piece suite the following year. We remembered this and the following year presented him with his own gift in a tiny little gift box...



A three piece sweet...

I have already set up this years Gift list ideas file and have a copy on my ipod touch, a copy on the calender and a copy on the main PC. I have ideas for birthdays and for other celebrations such as Anniversarys, New Baby Gifts etc. That way if I happen to be in a shop and see something that would make a great gift, I can check that I haven't already brought something for them.... like the beautiful baby coat I have brought for my Sisters 3rd Baby which is due in late May!

The last thing I need to do is to check next month for dates that are coming up. I have Valentines Day (Top Ender, Baby Boy and I are making a lot of cards this year!), Chinese New Year (which is the 14th February this year), Big Cousins Birthday, Half Term a few friends Birthdays and of course it is also Jo Beaufoix's birthday... Need to plan something big for that one.


Image stolen from Jo's blog. Hope she doesn't mind. If she does I shall make sure the Male Strippers for her Birthday make up for it. They shall be Tweet Strippers...

Oh and the absolute last thing I am going to do is to write a couple of lines about January so that when I come to write my review of the year post in December, I'll remember what I thought was important!

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