It's December 5th.

PANIC.

Okay, just kidding. Kind of.

Here's the thing: Christmas is at my house this year. For the first time, ever. This is huge, because up until a few years ago, I was convinced that I couldn't boil water, let alone cook a whole dinner. And it's not for just a few people-- if everyone invited shows up, it'll be about 9. 9!

Part of me- most of me- is super excited. Growing up, everyone always came over to our house for Christmas (Well, every holiday, really) and it was the BEST. I loved having a houseful of people over- there is just something about it that is cozy and loving and warm and wonderful.

Of course, then I was a kid, and not my frantic mother who had to cook and clean up after these people. I've turned into my mother, folks. Not that that is much of a surprise, or even a bad thing. But still, you'd think I'd learn and just order Chinese take-out.

We're not even having a traditional Christmas feast. Which, I suppose if you're getting a free meal, you shouldn't complain. But...that's not the nature of human beings, is it? Hubby is sick of turkey. And ham. Fine. So we're doing flank steak. HE is doing it, not me, because he's supposed to be some meat BBQing master. Which is good, at least he is helping. Since we're doing that, I figured I'd make SORT OF traditional side dishes. Like green bean casserole. A jello salad my aunt used to make for every family function. Yummy bread rolls. What else??? I mean, NINE PEOPLE. I haven't even thought about desserts yet.

In the meantime, I also haven't done anything about presents. Mostly for Monkey. We have ideas of what we want to get, but we haven't gone shopping yet. He'll be 3 in January, so I feel like this is the first year he's fully coherent to what Christmas is all about. He's recognizing Santa on his own. He knows what snowmen are (which is impressive, since he lives in FL and hasn't seen snow up close and personal yet), and he helped me decorate our tree. He's definitely more involved this year, so I want to make sure that it's a fantastic Christmas for him- just in case he has an impressive memory. : )

All that, and there are of course a million things around town I'd like to do. We have Disney annual passes, since we're just down the road from Magic Kingdom, and I want to see every inch of Christmas that is up there. The gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian. The castle lit up with icicle lights. The dancing lights (we have seen those twice already). Then there's other things, like simply going to see Santa. Reading the Christmas story (the baby Jesus one) to Monkey. Watching all the great holiday classics.

Oh, and...enjoy the season. In my spare time! Does anyone else get bogged down by the rushing and bustling around to forget what this time of year is all about?