I love this season.
From the crack of dawn Black Friday shopping, to the
beautiful twinkling lights that seem to appear little by little, like the stars
peeking out, to the building excitement of my two little girls, to the festive
feeling you get everywhere. Sure,
your weekends are booked and there’s plenty to do, but it just feels so…happy.
I’m the furthest from a Scrooge or a Grinch. I’m a Who –
humming merrily as I wrap and decorate and love the excess.
But yeah, it’s busy. It’s exhausting. I love seeing the
magic unfold through my children’s eyes, but I’m also the one making the magic.
And I can love it and still feel exhausted.
Not only am I trying to do cards, shop and wrap, manage the
schedule, clean and decorate, be Santa and the Elf and the magic maker, but I’m
doing it mostly solo. Adam is traveling a minimum of three days every single
week leading up to Christmas this year. He’s home enough to participate in the
merriment – the parties and performances and family activities like Santa
visits and getting the tree – but the majority of the prep falls to me.
If I let it, that merriment can be squashed and replaced
with stress. It would be so easy to
let that stress get to me. To grumble about the decorating that I do not have time for. To curse the
stupid Elf. To complain about the excess and booked weekends and the are you kidding me that we have a dance rehearsal NOW. I’ve seen it
happen. I don’t want to be a crab throughout December, just counting down the
days until December 26.
So planning, scheduling, and reflecting is not just nice,
it’s critical. If I’m not filling my
tank, I’ll run out of gas long before I welcome the family for Christmas Eve
dinner.
Planning
At the beginning of the season, I make my Christmas planner.
I make that scary to-do list that spans multiple pages and gets into ridiculous
levels of detail, right down to “book sitter for Christmas party” and “get cash
for group gift contributions” and “make sure the girls have tights that fit
with their Christmas dresses.” I have sections for gifts, for cards, for
budgets, for decorating, for little details. I’m a “write it down and remember
it” girl. I’m a to-do dinosaur who loves her planner. If I write it down, I’m
in control of it.
Scheduling
I’m not just talking about the calendar. I’m talking about my time. Adam is normally the coffee
maker and the early riser. He gets up with the girls. He brews the coffee and
pours my mug. When Adam is gone, I give myself an hour before the girls get up,
and an hour after they go to bed. In the morning, I make my coffee, I sit in
the big cozy armchair, and I drink it in the quiet house. Once I’ve finished
that, I can turn back to the to do list with a fresh eye. If I wait until the
girls are up, that coffee will sit in the mug while I try to catch up. Having
that time to mentally get myself ready is critical.
The other scheduling I do makes sure that I don’t get too
wrapped up in any one task. I set a timer and give myself a set amount of time
for things. I give myself an hour to work on decorating before that timer dings
and I move on. I see how much wrapping I can get done in forty-five minutes. I
know myself. I’ll get so wrapped up that I’ll end up awake at midnight,
overtired and frustrated.
So if I put the girls to be at eight, I have three hours.
Two for prep and one for relaxation. Then, I’m done. The next day will be there.
Reflecting
This is my relaxation time. It’s very, very easy to let this slide over the holidays, especially with a
traveling husband. I’m doing the work of two parents and swamped with holiday
prep, so who has time for sipping coffee or reading or journaling or bubble
baths? Me, that’s who. I will make it
happen. I give myself that hour once the girls are in bed to take care of me. And I wake up early when I’m alone
so I can have that coffee time.
I just tried Bulletproof coffee, and it is giving me that
extra edge I need. Coffee is necessary to get those feet moving, but bad coffee
can actually get me started on the wrong foot.
I don’t have time to feel sluggish or sick. I was always intrigued by the idea of blending butter and seeing what it could really do for me, and now that I've tried it, the real way, I know it's not all hype.
Bulletproof Coffee uses
great quality coffee, a high octane
brain boost supplement (kind of like a coconut oil, but even more effective)
and the good fat in either ghee or grass-fed butter for long lasting,
metabolism boosting, good energy that will last through the whole day – even a
busy and stressful December day. It’s low toxin, high performance, and full of
healthy fats to fuel even the most overwhelming days of holiday prep.
Bulletproof offers a
starter kit so you can try it for yourself and see if it’s for you.
The Recipe for REAL Bulletproof Coffee
a. Brew
1 cup (8-12 oz.) of coffee using filtered water, just off the boil, with 2 1/2
heaping tablespoons freshly ground Bulletproof Coffee Beans. (French Press is
easiest, but we usually use a drip.)
b. Add
in 1-2 tablespoons of Brain Octane™ to the hot coffee (It’s STRONG – start with
1 tsp. and work up over several days).
d. Mix
it all in a blender for 20-30 seconds until it is frothy like a foamy latte. I
use a stick blender and rinsed it under hot water right away to make clean up a
snap.
The holidays
can overwhelm you and turn you into a Grinch, but preparing, relaxing, and
Bulletproof can truly help you Elevate the Season and enjoy every moment – even
stamping envelopes!
This post was sponsored by Bulletproof, but my opinions are, as usual, my own. Some of the links may be affiliate links.
