Oh, the holidays

I'm kind of freaking out. About the holidays, of course. I love Christmas; don't get me wrong. Even though I made a promise to myself that I'd focus more on the "real reason for the season", Christmas gifts still have to be bought, right?

I think the anxiety started when I realized how close to Christmas we are. David said something a week or two ago that sent shivers down my spine: "We only have 8 weeks left in our semester."

Say what?? When you look at it that way, you may be able to understand my anxiety. And, I'm prone to anxiety anyway. Plus, I'm not a good shopper. When you mix the fibro and my chemical sensitivities to scents and new clothes, you get a shopper who can only be in a store for about an hour at a time.

Last year was so easy. We took theme pictures from each month of Audrey's first year of life, and that was everyone's gift. It was the best.

Of course, I also have to figure in Audrey's birthday in December...and her party. Although I know intellectually that it won't be that bad, since my mom and mother-in-law do most of the food work (at least they did last year), I can't help stressing.

I think we finally decided on a theme, though. Mickey Mouse, although I'd been thinking Minnie all this time. I finally realized I was pushing Minnie because it was more girly. We got a catalog of birthday supplies in the mail, and I actually went through it with Audrey. She displayed a clear preference for Mickey. Her real favorite is Donald (mine, too!), but they don't have anything that focused on him. Bummer.

It's not like we'll even be buying many decorations, just a few accent pieces. I figure there's no reason for spending money on MM plates, cups, etc., when she won't even care about those things. So, we'll just get some solid colors for those, hopefully from the Dollar Tree. All I know is we're going to have lots of balloons. Audrey loves them.

And if I've completely stressed out anyone about the holidays, I humbly apologize. I just want this to be a great Christmas for Audrey, since she's really aware of everything this year. We looked at trees the other day, and she kept saying, "So pretty!" Adorable.