Project MIMAB (Make It Merry and Bright): Update

It’s almost the end of November. That means that not only will I be older (turning 37 on Friday), but also that Christmas is coming. Preparations have been going well for the big day. Internet shopping is the best. thing. ever. I have almost all of my gifts purchased.  For the kids, we decided that we would venture into the world of video games this year and are getting them an Xbox Kinect. I spoke with several moms who I know limit their kids’ gaming and they spoke highly of the Kinect system, stating that after a session of video games, their kids were sweaty and happy. The moms also said that they personally enjoyed the games and often spent time playing as a family. After hearing that, I took the plunge.

As for the rest of the holiday preparations, we have the tree up (but not decorated – that’ll be part of our Christmas countdown activities) and I’ve decorated the mantel.  Here’s the end result (ignore the bad lighting – I’m no photographer):

I’m so happy with how these decorations turned out. The framed print and the garland were downloaded here from eighteen25.  I had the print done at London Drugs and put in into a frame that I got on sale at Michaels, and I printed the garland portion off at home and pasted the print-outs to some green cardstock I had kicking around. The rest of the ornaments I already had, so it was relatively inexpensive in the end.

I just received our Christmas cards (sorry, no pics of these) from Snapfish the other day, and while I think I should have gone with glossy rather than matte, I’m happy with how they turned out. It’s just a matter of addressing and sending out now.

I haven’t started any Christmas baking yet, but that’s probably a good thing. On the baking list this year:

1. gingersnaps (the best recipe ever is here. So good that my grandma asked ME for the recipe.)
2. Christmas-y Rice Krispy treats from here
3. red velvet cupcakes using Bakerella’s very excellent red velvet cake recipe

I’m not sure what else to bake. It’s been so long (6 years) since I’ve done any hard-core holiday baking that I have very recipes that I’m tied to and I wouldn’t mind trying out some new ones. Links and suggestions welcome!

Here’s how you know that I’m a total holiday junkie: I’ve ordered matching pj’s for my family from Hanna Andersson. Candy cane stripe is a good look for Christmas morning, right?

True confession time: I have not been working out and my eating has been not very good, either. I get home at the end of the day and am totally lacking motivation to do anything active, but I’m also tired, so I end up carb-ing up in search of energy. It makes no sense that I am absolutely certain that I would feel better if I just did something, but can not motivate myself to get my (gradually enlarging) butt off the couch. It’s a mystery to me that my mind can process all of this information and yet here I sit, kicking myself for not working out and still NOT WORKING OUT.

From here until Christmas, I’m committing to 15 minutes per day of something. It may be cardio, it may be yoga, it may be abs, it may be stretching. At this point, I just need to get doing anything, because that’s 100% better than nothing. at. all.

My veggie intake has also been crap, so I’m going to promise to have a low-sodium V8 per day, even if I have nothing else veg-wise, because you can not get any easier than that.

What’s your favourite holiday treat?Does your family do anything out of the ordinary/silly for the holidays? What’s your favourite holiday tradition?

My answers to the 3 questions above:

1) my mom’s jam jam cookies

2) I apparently like to get my family (me, husband, kiddos) matching clothing items

3) for my favourite tradition, when I was a kid, we used to celebrate Christmas on my mom’s side with a French Canadian tradition called reveillon, where we’d go to midnight mass (actually held at midnight) and then go to my grandparent’s house and have a meal (including tourtiere) and open gifts