In My Neck of the "Woulds" (and Wouldn'ts) at Christmas

This is a sort of note to self, since my memory is short.  I've been recapping Christmas 2013 in my mind for the past week and making mental lists of how to improve next year's festivities.

In no particular order:

1.  I would buy the beautiful poinsettias from the school again next year for their "greens fundraiser."
I've never seen prettier, healthier ones in my life. Ten bucks each was a good purchase.

2.  I would NOT trust them to get a little drink on  a nice day when the weather could snap overnight and kill them.   Literally, they looked like this in 27 hours from the time I  brought them home.  My hubby took one look at them and said, "It must be a record."

3. I would make huge name tags from scrap wrapping paper  and big adhesive letters again.  It makes Santa's job of distributing them very easy. And they're cute a cute alternative to storebought to/from tags
when you can't find the ones you thought you bought after Christmas LAST year.

4. I wouldn't wait until Christmas Eve-eve for inspiration desperation to force my hand.

5.  I would volunteer again to be a school yearbook photographer. It grants me a
nametag and the right to sit front and center to witness my boy wait nervously for his
song to start. (Did you know those sticks are musical instruments called boomwhackers?)

6.   I wouldn't let him wear the tie without buttoning the top button.

     

     7.  I would make chicken alfredo with bacon again because it's easy, can be made ahead of time and heated up later in the oven, feeds a crowd, looks Christmasy, tastes good, is easier on certain stomachs than marinara sauce,  and the dish is disposable.

8.  I wouldn't buy nearly as much other food.  Oh, my, it was too much!

9.    I would pretend that August is December and I'd start all my handmade items then,  and finish by Thanksgiving.
10.  I would not wait for inspiration (or in hubby's words, "procrastination adrenaline") to hit me in the real December.


                                               For DIL who loves aqua, grey, and white

                                  For daughter who loves changing out her pillows seasonally like her mom.

                      I call this pillow "Sashing Through the Snow" because of the window-pane look.  She likes the added bling in the center.

11.  I would do anything again to make it possible for all of us to be together every Christmas Eve.
There's nothing quite like it.

12.  I wouldn't forfeit the joy of attending a Christmas Eve service like I did this year.  We haven't figured out how to compromise on attending church, eating dinner, opening gifts,
and getting everyone safely home before midnight.