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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 2:41:29 GMT
The gift-wrapping thread got me thinking about this. I tend to be 'good enough is good enough' when it comes to most things having to do with Christmas, but I'm pretty fussy when it comes to my baking. I can live with running out of time and using gift bags, not getting every ornament on the tree or skipping the Christmas letter, but there are certain cookies that I *have to make.
In fact, a friend was looking put together a cookie exchange after the one she usually participates in didn't happen this year. I told her that I've never done cookie exchanges because I bake exactly what our family likes. (My husband also has a walnut allergy). I know I'm fussy, but I own it.
What is your 'just so' part of this time of year?
(Please know that this is all in good fun. I know this is a rough time of year for some, and I feel fortunate that I can afford to be fussy--financially and emotionally).
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Post by slicksister on Dec 15, 2014 3:02:54 GMT
Not a darn thing. I wasted/ruined so many Christmases wanting/needing/having t have so many things perfect. It was so stressful and made me and others crazy. Now that my kids are grown and have their own families I just don't feel the need. I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of year but everything I do at that time of year is good enough.
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lesley
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Post by lesley on Dec 15, 2014 3:04:33 GMT
My tree has to be perfect. I won't let anyone else decorate it, it is my own work of art! And everyone who comes to visit always says how gorgeous it is.  |
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Post by anxiousmom on Dec 15, 2014 3:06:07 GMT
Well, since I haven't decorated or started shopping yet, I am going with nothing really.  |
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PLurker
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Post by PLurker on Dec 15, 2014 3:06:32 GMT
"Just so" those I love are in my life otherwise pretty much.... not much anymore.
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Post by eebud on Dec 15, 2014 3:15:49 GMT
Add me to the "nothing" group. There isn't anything about Christmas that has to be just so. Some years I bake, others I don't. Some years I host a big meal, other years I host a nacho bar meal and other years I don't host at all. Some years we travel out of town for Christmas and others we stay home. If we travel out of town, we might not put up the tree at all. We do miss the tree but we are glad we are not having to take it down when we get back into town and have to go back to work. So, there really isn't anything that must be "just so".
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Post by padresfan619 on Dec 15, 2014 3:18:20 GMT
The bloody marys while we open gifts.
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Nanner
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Post by Nanner on Dec 15, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
The only thing for me is that everything has to be completed early. I panic if it's not. Other than that, I bake whatever I feel like baking, or my loved one's favourites. In fact this year, I made "non-Christmas cookies" - I made DD's favourite - gingersnaps, and DH and DS's favourites, chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies. That's what they wanted, so that's what I made.
As for wrapping, the first few I wrap are beautiful and perfect. Then I just want to get them all done, so the last ones have uneven cuts, and I just pop a bow and tie a tag on them!
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Post by myboysnme on Dec 15, 2014 3:20:09 GMT
Hmmm, interesting question. I think the thing I have to have just so is my boys' gifts stacked up for them on Christmas morning. I love putting out that stack of gifts on Christmas Eve. I asked if this year I can just put them under the tree, but my oldest says it's more of a surprise to see them on Christmas morning, so that means I get another year of stacking the gifts!
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Post by PLurker on Dec 15, 2014 3:31:21 GMT
Nadda. Because... “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”  (I'm a sucker for the old animation Christmas shows) |
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Post by ntsf on Dec 15, 2014 3:36:45 GMT
the only thing I really do is make fruitcake...I make it for me and my dad.. has to be the family recipe...
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Post by myshelly on Dec 15, 2014 3:37:16 GMT
For me it's my decor.
I want my trees and mantle and other decorations perfect.
I don't do any baking, I don't do fancy wrapping, I've given up on cards.
But I need my house to be beautiful.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 3:51:04 GMT
My Christmas Village. I spend days getting it perfect. Even when Christmas is over I'm going over new designs in my head.
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Post by melanell on Dec 15, 2014 3:59:55 GMT
Nothing. The holiday is so much easier for me that way. And more enjoyable as well. |
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Post by PLurker on Dec 15, 2014 4:01:08 GMT
My Christmas Village. I spend days getting it perfect. Even when Christmas is over I'm going over new designs in my head.that made me giggle. Reminds me of when scrapbooking was my new found love. |
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Post by Jennifer C on Dec 15, 2014 4:23:32 GMT
The big tree in the living room and the living room.
That is usually what people see, so for me the tree and room has to be decorated.
Jennifer
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 4:25:53 GMT
The menu. I love every aspect of preparing a holiday meal from the planning to the shopping to the actual cooking. It's fun & creative for me and I enjoy every second I spend on it. I am definitely one who looks at feeding people as an expression of love.
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Dec 15, 2014 4:29:54 GMT
The only thing I like to be "just so" is the picture of the tree and all the presents out, right after Santa comes. I love those pictures!
Everything else, I'm pretty easy going about. I try to go the least stressful yet most fun Holiday
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Post by 950nancy on Dec 15, 2014 4:32:26 GMT
I have so many things I am trying to just get done and work is always the craziest this time of year (teaching), so just getting to Friday afternoon at 3:30 is my goal. After that I have two weeks off and plan to just have fun, scrap, and relax. I don't want anything to get in my way of doing that.
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Dec 15, 2014 4:36:40 GMT
The only thing I like to be "just so" is the picture of the tree and all the presents out, right after Santa comes. I love those pictures!
Everything else, I'm pretty easy going about. I try to go the least stressful yet most fun Holiday
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Post by ptamom on Dec 15, 2014 4:42:44 GMT
My mother's Dresden Angels. She loved them and carefully placed them out each Christmas before she died. After her death, I was the one who would put them out (Which was sort of ironic, because I had never been allowed to touch them before she died.)
My stepmother noticed how carefully I got them out each Christmas, and how meticulously I packed them up when the holidays were over.
After I went off to college, they never got put out. After I married DH, she gave the angels to me.
I have a glass display case that most of the year displays antiques my mother collected. But right before Thanksgiving, I pack those all up and get out the angels. I move them millimeter by millimeter until I'm happy with their placement, then close the door. My mother used to cover a table with them, but I have a cat, so I've had to alter the placement to keep them safe.
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YooHoot
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Post by YooHoot on Dec 15, 2014 4:57:11 GMT
The older I get....less and less have to be that way.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Dec 15, 2014 7:08:31 GMT
Not a darn thing. I wasted/ruined so many Christmases wanting/needing/having t have so many things perfect. It was so stressful and made me and others crazy. Now that my kids are grown and have their own families I just don't feel the need. I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of year but everything I do at that time of year is good enough. Same here. I wonder if people get so stressed about the holidays because they have too high expectations. It's so much nicer and enjoyable not wanting or expecting everything to be just so. We do go to my mom's house Christmas Eve, but when/if dh says he doesn't want to, then we will stay home. But even the only child is getting used to and enjoying the big family experience |
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Grom Pea
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Post by Grom Pea on Dec 15, 2014 7:56:14 GMT
I might be disappointed if I don't get stollen for breakfast, but in all honesty since I moved to California over 10 years ago and have made it once (my mom's tradition). I only have it if I can find it at trader joes. I should probably go tomorrow to avoid disappointment, but I'll live if I have to eat Christmas cookies instead ;-)
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Post by gar on Dec 15, 2014 8:34:20 GMT
Sorry OP, nothing for me either. For years when my DDs were small Dh worked on Christmas Day so I went to stay with my parents or my ILs so that the girls got a 'family' Christmas and Dh joined us late in the evening. Since that stopped I was just happy to all be at home together....that was enough  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 9:37:34 GMT
I try and do most things to the best of my ability and the time I have available. The kids decorate the tree. It is in no way perfect but they've had a blast doing it and the most important thing is that they've enjoyed doing it together. If the presents are not perfectly wrapped it really doesn't change the thought and love that has gone into what is inside. If dinner is on the table 15/30 minutes later than planned,no worries, we still get to eat a lovely meal together. No, I don't have to have everything "just so" life is too short to worry about it |
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Post by maryboys on Dec 15, 2014 10:51:27 GMT
the music that is playing while we unwrap gifts is fairly important to me - but there's nothing i really stress over here, either  |
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Post by oliquig on Dec 15, 2014 11:29:36 GMT
the music that is playing while we unwrap gifts is fairly important to me - but there's nothing i really stress over here, either Now that I think of it, that is important to me too. It has to be the right mix of upbeat, but not nutty. I make a playlist every year. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 11:47:25 GMT
I try and do most things to the best of my ability and the time I have available. No, I don't have to have everything "just so" life is too short to worry about it That's how I feel, also. I like to have the house looking pretty; I like to have the presents look pretty; I like for the food to turn out great, etc. But, if it's not, that's okay, the day is still nice. However, there is one thing I do want for Christmas Day--I want it to be "just so" laid back, casual, not rushed. DH and I decided when our kids were little Christmas Day was reserved just for us. No hosting a group, no going to someone else's house--just our little family, lazing around, usually staying in our pajamas, not having to clean up, and eating when we all feel like it. That's not happening this year, and to say I'm irked and disappointed would be an understatement. But, I'll go with the flow, change some things around to accommodate, it is what it is, because I'm not going to get in an argument over it. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 13:19:02 GMT
However, there is one thing I do want for Christmas Day--I want it to be "just so" laid back, casual, not rushed. DH and I decided when our kids were little Christmas Day was reserved just for us. No hosting a group, no going to someone else's house--just our little family, lazing around, usually staying in our pajamas, not having to clean up, and eating when we all feel like it. It has always been the same for us. DH has his own business, so Christmas Day is one of the few days of the year that he doesn't work. I would be disappointed if we couldn't do that. |
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