61 days 'til Christmas...

So, I'm home today in bed sick as a dog...some sort of weird flu thing...my mother of course thinks I have hantavirus because she overhead Sam & I talking the other day about Ratatouille who lives in our kitchen...Anyway, I thought since I am incapacitated and don't have much brain power today, I'd start my holiday gift list.

We decided this year we are going to do LESS, which is hard for me because I am like a little kid at Christmas - I love the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I love giving (and I don't mind getting either), I love the lights, the Christmas trees and the MAGIC of the holidays. But, I don't love the credit card bills. Nor does my husband. And we want to teach our daughter the true meaning of Christmas. Plus, we really don't need any more "stuff." We are fortunate to have our health, a roof over our heads that is filled with people and things we love...we just don't need anything.

So, this year we have decided to do fewer, but more meaningful gifts...How, you ask? Well, we are going to give the grandparents a photobook of Sam's year. We are going to give our parents donations in their name to Oxfam, an organization helping reduce poverty around the world. For Sam, instead of lots of gifts, we are going to let her pick out one big gift and then fill her stocking with books and art supplies and homemade crafts. We will give our friends and work associates a bottle of organic wine with a cute Tag It gift tag. For Sam's friends we are going to make homemade playdough and give a favorite holiday book with a cute book plate in it. For her teachers, we are going to donate a tree in their name which will be planted in southern California (as they work to repair the damage from the ongoing fires) and a reusable coffee mug with a gift certificate to a local coffee shop (fair trade of course). My friends are getting lunch dates with me (TIME is a great gift); LobotoME pads and planners and a small gift from some of the fab Etsy artisians. My BFF is getting a necklace with her kids names on it. Our neighbors will get homemade bread to have for breakfast during the holiday season. And Will & I, instead of gifts for each other, are taking a family vacation to Mexico.

We are going to get a real tree for our front porch that we will then plant in our yard in the spring. We are going to replace all of our Christmas lights with LED energy effiecient lights. We are not going to send out holiday cards this year - I know big shocker - and I LOVE cards - but it is just too much...too much time, too much money and too many carbon emissions from mailing them. Each year we also adopt a local family through the Project Merry Christmas program and get them what they need (food, winter coats, gifts for their kids, etc).

So that's my plan and I'm sticking to it...I will have much more success at it if I avoid Target for the next 2 months. I hope I didn't freak any of you out talking about Christmas today when it isn't even Halloween yet. There are only 61 days left though. Now, I freaked you out, didn't I?

Here's hoping you all have a simple, peaceful holiday season.

Note: {Of course when I say "We" in the text above, that really means ME, or I...Since Will & I have been together I can't recall the last time he did any of the Christmas stuff...In fact, last year on our drive up to Boulder for Christmas with his mom (12 hours before the actual Christmas DAY) he asked me, "So, do I need to pick up a gift for my mom?!?! Like, I hadn't taken care of it already and hadn't taken care of it for the past 8 years! Men, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.}