Christmas crunch time

The difference between December 8th, when I last posted, and December 18th (today) is massive. Christmas is seven days away and I have so many things left to do!

OK, don't panic. Let's go down the list and see how bad it is. (It's bad.)

1. Cards. Oh dear. The cards are purchased, the stamps are purchased, the letters are copied (as of today). How many cards are you planning to send out? Around 50. Are any envelopes addressed? Yes, actually, 10. Are any cards written? No. Oh dear.

2. Cookies. Oh dear. How many batches of cookies have you made? Three. Well, three's not bad. How many were you planning to make? Six. Oh. Well, better get busy.

3. Decorations. Oh dear. Now, stop it, it's not that bad. Is the tree up? Yes. Is it decorated? Mostly. What's left? The straw stars and the bald eagle (which goes way at the top, so Rocket Boy has to put it there). Oh, that's nothing, you're almost finished. What else needs to be done? Hang the spray on the porch. Clean the living room again. Make Rocket Boy move the boxes to the garage or back down to the basement. Surely that's doable. Hmm.

4. Gifts. Oh dear. We've physically bought one small thing for each boy and have ordered a couple of little things that might not make it in time. Aunt Barbara's box arrived (and was not stolen by a porch thief). What else needs to be done? ALL THE OTHER SHOPPING. And when are you going to do it? This weekend, I guess, while Rocket Boy takes the twins to a museum or something. Oh dear.

5. Dinners. Have you planned them? Sort of. Have you shopped? No. We always get a Honeybaked ham for Christmas, so we'll have to go pick that up. Maybe on Sunday. But I thought Sunday was a present-shopping day. So it is. Hmm.

It doesn't sound TOO bad, does it? Except maybe the cards. But even those would get done in a flash if I had any time. So what's the problem? Well, I have a job. I only work 4 hours a day, but on the front end there's getting the kids off to school and myself to CU, and on the back end there's getting myself home from CU and picking the kids up from school (and in Kid A's case, driving his carpool twice a week, though Rocket Boy and I alternate doing that). Then there are the meals, and the laundry, and cleaning the kitchen, and feeding cats, and HOMEWORK every day, even this week, and baths, and putting the kids to bed after reading a lot of stories. And blogging when I should be writing cards. OK, enough, I'll go write some cards.

I keep reminding myself that 8 days from now it will all be over and done with, and Rocket Boy and I can relax with a glass of eggnog and watch a mystery DVD from the library. And I'll be pleased to have survived another Christmas. But right now I'm a little stressed.