Skipping Christmas

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I usually go WAY overboard with 5 Christmas trees, every room decorated (that includes two guest rooms, all the baths, and the casita where I see my clients), cards and a holiday poem, thousands of cookies and candies, dinners, and LOTS of presents (both mailed and under the trees). Last year I wrapped 88 gifts. I obviously also shopped for those gifts. That is pretty over-the top for people with no parents, siblings or kids!
This year, while we are not completely skipping Christmas, we are simplifying and reducing the excess from our holiday. There will be no gifts, no cards, ONE tree (the Italy tree), and I will still bake to my heart's content! That is my favorite part of December! Friends may get homemade goodies, but no commercial gifts are changing hands. We don't need a thing, and neither do our friends. All of my friends, except one, have agreed to no exchanging of gifts. I will have time to do something I've always wanted to do as a Christmas project (more on that later). We are "adopting" a family through a local charity, and providing a young family with food, clothing, and a few toys and holiday stockings to give them what they could otherwise not afford.
We have been invited to spend Christmas with several special people, but we are going to do something different there too. We're not quite sure what yet.I had hoped to spend Christmas in Rome this year, but that will have to wait for another holiday season. I am looking forward to a relaxed, stress-free month ahead.











