Oh no just 7 weeks till Christmas

 This week I did some serious work in the room of horrors. It is now no longer the room of horrors, but is the room of the empty closet, ready to be filled with all the purged and organized containers. 

I have all the Christmas bins ready to take downstairs in the order they will be used. Starting Monday I will begin my Christmas decorating.  If you have read one of these posts before you will know we are leaving for Oregon the 23rd and will be home the 1st. I want all the decorating done before we leave (except for the outside, but they are minimal and can be placed that Monday*). 

Son3 and DIL3 were here for a short visit and they left with some of the ornaments I no longer wanted. I think there were enough of them to cover their entire tree. I am glad they wanted and can use them, and really glad they are non longer cluttering my house.

Every single gift that is bought as of right now is wrapped and in a very large box** in the living room. I do not bow or otherwise decorate the presents until they are about to go under the tree. I will arrange the presents so the bows will not be smashed when I give them. And yes I know it is unnecessary, but it is what I like to do. Truth be known the presents under the living room tree are wrapped in papers that coordinate with the ornaments on that tree and are a bit more formal looking. The den tree's gifts have a more casual and random look. Obsessive? Possibly, but I will deny it.

The only other Christmas prep I did was to have a list and approximate cooking/baking time/dates for the cookies and candies I will make for Christmas. I plan on having anything that can be frozen done and in the freezer before we leave. Most of them will just be partially done with the finishing touches, like iced, dipped, or second bakes to be done close to Christmas .

I also made a master shopping list of items I need to purchase for said cooking. Most things I have but there are a few specific ingredients I do not keep on hand at all times.

So that is all I did in the 7th week before Christmas. 

18 days until Thanksgiving

46 days until Christmas

Ho, Ho, HooWee! It's getting close~!

*I only put out 3 lighted trees, a door wreath and a lighted swag over the door. They have all been strung, fluffed, bows retied and are just waiting for their moment in the spotlight, so to speak.

**This is a basic corrugated cardboard box that has a huge red blanket lining it, which then overhangs the sides and back of the box. It actually looks like I planned on doing things that way, but it was a serendipitous happening. I had stuck the box in the corner of the living room and filled it, but when I went back upstairs to see if I had anything remaining in my double secret gift drawer, I saw (through an open closet door) the red blanket that I had forgotten about. Unplanned, but a nice accidental touch.