No Stress Holidays
The holidays are coming soon. Get organized now, and you'll have plenty of time to spend with your family. With everything that needs to be done throughout the holiday season, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a simple system that would help you get your holiday season organized?
Start with a family meeting. Family meetings are perfect for organizing things from chore schedules to parties.
It's also the perfect time for everyone to keep in touch with each other. Schedule one or two per holiday season. Start now for Thanksgiving and schedule another one for Christmas before the end of November. Schedule a call-free hour for each planning session and let the answering machine field calls. Planning early will give everyone something fun to look forward to.
Don't overbook your schedule. Pick the things you enjoy doing the most, and focus on them. This way, you'll have plenty of additional time for yourself and your family.
Purchase a five section divided notebook (or use pages from your personal organizer). Title each of the dividers as follows: Holiday Schedule, Gifts, Meals, Parties, and Extras.
Holiday Schedule
In the Holiday Schedule section of your notebook, paste in a calendar page for the month of December. This section will be the center of all holiday activities. That is why it is so important to have a family meeting, making sure everybody gets to do and participate in what he/she likes best. On this page keep track of all holiday events and parties, including school programs, concerts, and work parties. Remember to include your favorite television specials and family traditions such as viewing the Live Nativity or the Christmas Light Tour.
Don't forget getting the Christmas tree and decorating the house.In the same section of your notebook number the pages from 1 to 31 and use these pages as your daily calendar. As the month progresses you will appreciate the open spaces of the daily calendar for scheduling events and activities. Remember to schedule in shopping for gifts along with wrapping and mailing them. This would be a good spot to schedule in Christmas cards, too, writing them and getting them into the mail. Gifts In the Gift section of your notebook write a heading across each page as needed.
Kid's Wish List requires a page for each child. Copy directly from their list or paste it in. Gift Ideas should be a couple of pages devoted to jotting down gift ideas as they come up while shopping, watching TV or talking to someone. Stocking Stuffer Ideas should follow the same format as gift ideas but jotting down stocking stuffer ideas instead. The Master Gift List is the key to your budget and your sanity.
On the Master gift list use a page for each person or group of people (people from work, nieces and nephews, etc.) and keep track of what you actually buy and how much you spend. This is the key to making sure you don't forget anybody, that you don't spend too much, and that your spending is balanced.
Holiday Meals Use this section of your notebook to plan your holiday meals and to plan your baking and candy making. Title each section accordingly. Jot down the menu for your holiday dinner and make out your shopping list.
Check your baking and candy recipes and make out your shopping list. If you have other special holiday items just add them here: decorative paper plates and napkins, Hickory Farms for unexpected guests, eggnog, a trip to the liquor store. Keep track of everything you need here and you won't be making second and third trips to the store for forgotten items.
Holiday Parties This section is good whether you are planning a party, going to a party or both. Include sections on Decorations (what you will use, where they are, additional items you will need to purchase), Guest List, Food and Beverages (plan here for potluck parties you are invited to as well as the menu for your party), Preparation (what needs to be done and who is going to do it--try to divide responsibilities evenly), Invitations and Wardrobe Planner (make sure you have all the accessories as well as your main outfit for each occasion).
Extras
This section of your notebook will include the Holiday Chore List. This is a place to list all of the extras that need to be done for the holidays: extra cleaning, getting the guest room ready, putting up the outside decorations, etc. Remember to schedule time sensitive chores onto your daily calendar in section one. The family meeting is a good place to discuss these extras and to divvy them up. The Extras section is also a good spot for your Christmas Decorations inventory.
Jot down items that you remember from last year that you need: extra lights, a bigger tree stand, new candles, etc. As you begin to decorate you can also add onto this list. Planning your holiday season may seem like too much trouble, but the benefits of planning in advance are numerous: no double scheduling, no wasted shopping trips, no scrambling around trying to find last minute gifts, peace of mind knowing that you did everything you wanted to do most, and the joy of a no stress holiday season filled with friends, family and fun. And just think, next year you will have your holiday planner all set up and ready to go. Put this year's planner in a safe place and bring it out next holiday season for another no stress holiday..
Mother’s Day Unique Gift Idea Features Lobster Feast For Mom
Chicago, IL (ContentDesk) May 4, 2006 -- Mothers Day just got a little tastier with a great new gift idea from Lobster Gram Moms Magnificent Lobster Feast .
Featuring sweet, cold water South African lobster tails, Crab & Shrimp cakes, creamy Shrimp & Corn chowder and even a Chocolate Heart cake for dessert, Moms Magnificent Lobster Feast is a unique and delicious gift for your Mom, special someone or seafood lover.
Sales of this very limited-time offer are expected to be brisk for Mothers Day, especially with the extra coverage it is getting as a feature on the Lobster Gram website at https://www.livelob.com/lobstergram/shop?method=itembuy&itemid...
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Gift item provides funding to ensure high-quality string instruction and performance opportunities for children
WHO:???The Violin Case founder Julie TebbsWHAT:???At the request of the Heifetz family, The Violin Case has developed the Heifetz Signature Crystal to commemorate the life and talent of the great violinist Jascha Heifetz. For each Heifetz Signature Crystal purchased, The Violin Case will donate $5 toward a challenge grant sponsored by Strings Magazine, who will match the donation dollar for dollar up to $6,500. The funds will benefit the National String Project Consortium, established by the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), designed to educate a new generation of much-needed string teachers through on-the-job training under skilled master teachers, as well as provide high-quality string instruction and performance opportunities to thousands of children who would otherwise simply go without.This Heifetz Signature Crystal is available for a limited time.WHEN:???Beginning October 1, 2003
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Refinance Your Second Mortgage
A 2nd mortgage is a secured loan on your property, with your home serving as collateral. Depending on the particular terms of your second mortgage, you could be able to refinance if you wish to reduce your monthly payments or are in need of extra cash. Refinancing a 2nd mortgage can be an option for those who want to pay off their mortgage (excluding any home equity lines of credit), reduce the interest rate they currently pay on their second mortgage, or simply want reduce their monthly payments....
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Sheep Treadmills
The term sheep treadmills refers nowadays to the exercise devices designed to keep a farmer's sheep in good health. In 1990 inventor Victor Tribelhorn came up with the concept of sheep treadmills for conditioning and exercising a large number of sheep at the same time. The patent was published in 1992. With this device, the sheep are arranged side by side on these sheep treadmills with their front legs on a stationary stand and their back legs on the treadmill belt. The range of speed for these...
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Stan James 2000 Guineas & Festival Free Tips
London, UK (ContentDesk)May 3, 2006 -- In keeping with Jumpingjockey.com's policy of providing free advice for big events, fans of the most popular horse races in the UK will receive free tips and advice once again from the jumpingjockey.com team (http://www.jumpingjockey.com). JumpingJockey.com will provide forecast 'back' (bet to win) and 'lay' (bet to lose) advice for both short and long priced runners at this years Stan James Guineas...
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Sequin Purses
Purses, popularly known as handbags, evolved several centuries ago. What first began as simple pouches made of hide, soon developed into status symbols, adorned with lavish embroidery and precious stones. The earliest purses were simple animal skin pouches that were used during religious ceremonies by the Egyptians and Babylonians. In course of time, they evolved into the expensive designer bags made by fashion houses, that we see today. Although the functionality factor is important, of recent,...
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