Gifting

I have always enjoyed planning and shopping for gifts for people.  I even like wrapping all of them (and would happily wrap for anyone else who doesn't enjoy it.)  In fact, I've learned that I really can't do my Christmas shopping too early because if I do, I'll just go out in December to buy more gifts once it starts feeling Christmasy.  There's just something fun about coming up with that perfect gift that you know will make them smile.  And even though I'm typically not a fan of crowds of people, or shopping, for that matter, I do like to make a trip to the mall at some point during December to get that feeling of holiday madness.

This year, I think I've struck a pretty good balance of not leaving the shopping to the last minute, but also being on top of it.  At this point, I don't think there will be any frantic Christmas Eve trips to the mall.  I've got almost everything figured out, and may even be ready to mail things off early next week for our long distance family, which just may be a personal record for me.

I'm hoping the early preparations will leave me plenty of time to do fun crafts with the kids that week they are out of school--I may finally get to make that Christmas garland I started 2 years ago!