The Countdown begins!

That's right. Although it seems that the leftover Turkey has just left the building, it's just 25 all-too-short days till the Big One! But don't worry your pretty little Multi-Tasking head about it, because we are going to make it through this together, and have a blast doing it!

Okay, are you with me on this?

When we were little, we had an Advent calendar, lovingly crafted by my mom. Every night, the four of us kids would place an ornament on the tree and then be treated to some yummy bit of chocolate in that day's little pocket. A wonderful tradition and a treat of a way to count down to the holidays.

Only now do I realize what it must have taken to find and fill those pockets with nearly 100 pieces of chocolate - all different! The time my mom spent to make those days leading up to Christmas special and fun. Me, I'm lucky if I can remember to change the number on our 'Santa comes in ___ days' chalk board! How did she do it all?

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I read a cute book called "On Strike for Christmas." In it, a group of gals decide to go on 'strike' from doing everything themselves for everyone else one holiday season after another, and decide to leave the making of Christmas to their husbands. (You're getting the picture, right?)

I won't give away all the details in case you want to read this little piece of holiday reflection for yourselves, but let me tell you what I came away with. Bottom line? Christmas DID get done. Maybe not the way the gals were used to, but happen it did! The husbands (and kids!) learned just how hard it really was to create the kind of holidays they all loved. And the girls? Well, let's just say that when they gave up a little 'control,' they ultimately ended up with a lot more help.

Who does Christmas at your house? How does it happen? Is it you, You, YOU? If you find yourself with that Grinch-y feeling sneaking around the corners of your heart as you look ahead to the next 24 days, stop and spend a minute with me. I'm determined to 'do' Christmas this year in a way that's fun for me, too! What does that mean? What will it look like? Well, I'm guessing that it will require me to loosen my own grip a bit on the holiday steering wheel and ASK for some help - and involvement - then be willing to LOVE THE RESULT - no matter how different it may look!

Because ultimately, isn't that what Christmas - or whatever holiday you celebrate - is really about? Sharing. Being together. Enjoying the time together with family and friends. Hold on to your hat, Martha, because this year, Christmas at my house is going to be a family affair!

Stay tuned for more because you don't have to do it alone! Join me on the ever-changing journey to December 25th and let's see what small changes we can make that will give us BIG SMILES when Santa arrives!