Today was a beautiful Sunday with
sleeping in, family breakfast, a bike ride with my guy, decluttering the garage, baking a Mohn-Streuselkuchen (poppy seed crumble cake) and some shopping. I realized that it’s only seven more weeks to Christmas! And we’re going to Germany for Weihnachten and I’m very much looking forward to it. I haven’t been on a real German Weihnachtsmarkt since 2008!
Christmas in Germany
But every single year in December, I think things like:
“Why did I not buy the presents earlier?”,
“Do I have to bake more cookies, and when?”,
“Shit, I missed the Black Friday deals because I was hungover. And Cyber Monday is already over, too?”,
“Darn, I need to plan the class holiday party, bake more cookies and get presents for all the teachers!”,
“What the heck should I get for my husband?”
Every year I make the plan to start the Christmas shopping in October, when everyone else is still getting ready for Halloween. But to be honest, it had never worked so far. Each year, Christmas is sneaking up on me and I’m slightly super stressed. This year is supposed to be different.
I’m on it!
Halloween is over, thank goodness. My birthday is coming up and my cousin and her boyfriend will be visiting next weekend. In two weeks I’ll be looking at the Pacific Ocean, but in Costa Rica, where we will be visiting our dear friends who moved there last summer. Yay! With all these wonderful travel plans ahead of us, I knew that I had to step up my game this year. I had to get a head start with the schlepping prepping, shopping and wrapping. My younger daughter has actually been a great inspiration and pacer for me. She started working on presents in August! (She’s super excited about Christmas in Germany.) She’s produced paintings and other artwork for the whole family and has it all wrapped!
So I started shopping and ordering a few weeks ago and I have to say that I’m about 70 % done (ok, maybe 60 %). I decided to get one small gift for each loved one and I’m definitely following the rule: Less is more and light-weight is the key. Now I need to order a few more things on Amazon Germany. Then buy some gift cards and finish a couple handmade gifts. And I started wrapping today (while listening to the Mariah Carey station on Pandora)! Crazy? Who cares. I’m totally looking forward to Christmas and I love to get gifts for my favorite people.
My goal is to be done in two weeks. Then, I’ll enjoy this tropical drink with the umbrella and forget about Christmas for a little while. In December, I will skip the cookies. Instead, I will enjoy the magical anticipation of Christmas with beloved friends and family in Germany!
