Welcome to my blog on a touch of Christmas. I hope taking the time to write about Christmas this year will help me be more focused and less overwhelmed! I want to enjoy this season slowly, spend a few minutes on it daily - planning Christmas, Christmas tree shopping, Christmas cards writing, decorating and shopping.

If you haven't began planning for the holidays, let's get started!

1. Make a Plan For the Season. What do you want to do this year? Do you want to see the Nutcracker? Write out the things you intend to do - purchase a Christmas tree, write out Christmas cards, take kids to get holiday pictures, decorate the interior house with Christmas decorations and decorate the exterior with Christmas lights. Make a list.

2. Take Out the Calendar. I've taken out my calendar and looked it over to see what we have planned for the next 6 weeks. It looks like we have one big day planned per week and I'm keeping it limited to that.

Next I am placing on the calendar the things I want to do - our annual holiday trip to see family out of town, a target date for getting out Christmas cards and a day to pick out our Christmas tree.

3. Make a Plan for Gifts. Write down the list of those to whom you will be giving gifts. Include any gifts ideas next to the name. Don't forget to include - Sunday school teachers and others like that.

Will you be purchasing gifts or making homemade gifts? If you are creating gifts, make a list of supplies you will also need.

In my extended family we do a pollyanna. We put names of everyone participating in a hat, then each individual picks one name. Each person usually creates a list of ideas for gifts as well.

4. Create a Budget. Come up with a dollar amount per person and see if that is within your budget. If it is not, lower the amount per person. Remember it's the thought that is important. strongly recommend paying with cash if you can. You want the New Year to arrive without carrying over any financial baggage!