Monday, November 21, 2011

Getting Holiday(s) Ready

What are you doing for the holidays?

Well, David and I are going to be enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving by ourselves at home (which will at some point include the film Home for the Holidays because their family disfunction cracks me up and its a great way to start the holiday season).  My oldest nephew, Cody, usually joins us for Turkey Day with a friend or two, but this year he's 21 (and no longer needs us to buy beer for him, (wink!)) so he and his friends are doing their own thing together in Salt Lake City before he heads off to his first year of college in Lake Tahoe, NV at Sierra Nevada College.

I remember those first holidays away from home... they were not as sad as my family thought they would be for me, but exciting and different.  I missed my family and the traditions, but I felt happy to be on my own at the same time.  We'll miss Cody this year, but we hope he has a delightful time with his friends making amazing memories.

We also have a Boise State game to go to against Wyoming.  It feels a little anti-climatic after our big loss last weekend, but hey... we still love our Boise State Broncos.

For Christmas we will be with David's family in Charlotte, NC.  They've also invited my mom to join in the festivities, which is a special treat for both me and my mom this year. David is looking forward to re-connecting with friends from his hometown he hasn't seen in years during our visit, and I'm looking forward to all the Christmas lights and smells.  I've always loved Christmas lights, hot cider, pine needles, oh and Christmas carols- especially the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Christmas Album... Once Upon a Christmas. I'm sure we'll all be found old movies in the Lopez's den like White Christmas, which is my favorite Christmas movie, and It's a Wonderful Life, which is David's favorite.

There is so much to do to prepare for the holidays.   It's not even Thanksgiving, and I'm already feeling the pressure.  From making our house slightly (I'm not doing a tree this year) festive, Christmas shopping (although this year we are doing homemade gifts for the adults so that makes it a little bit easier- at least on the pocket book) to sending the gifts ahead of time, to getting a flu shot, to baking holiday treats for friends, to doing a run through with my house/dog sitters, to packing, and everything in between.

From a food aspect, the holidays are going to be difficult for us this year.  David and I are in the process of beginning a new dietary plan, The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, together to help with my health problems.  Many of our holiday favorites like mashed potatoes and stuffing are off limits, so I'm going to have to come up with some new holiday favorites to replace those with.  Any ideas?  Please send them my way!

I'm sure the holidays will go by like a breeze, but that doesn't make me any less stressed about getting ready for them.  In my humble opinion, the best way to have a great time in almost any activity is to be fully prepared in advance so everything during said activity is easy and fun.  And I am all about making this holiday trip easy and fun... so watch out as I cross things off one of my many super organized lists!

Traveling across the country during any holiday time from a smallish airport like Boise is never easy, especially in the winter, so say a little prayer that our flights are all on time and we don't catch colds from the re-filtered air in the planes and airports!  Last year after a little weekend trip to San Francisco, I caught the swine flu and was out of commission for two weeks or more, and even fell and cracked my skull open in my delirium- don't worry, I won't post that picture!  It was not good, and I'm not looking to do a repeat!  Maybe I should move to Australia where Christmas occurs in the summer?!

Anyway, best of luck with your holiday preparations this year!

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