I have a file on my computer called The Big List. Compiled from years of calendars and To Do lists, it is what I want to remember, celebrate, and accomplish.

From cleaning routines, celebrity birthdays, and my obsession with listening to records from our vinyl collection and watching movies on the date they were released, The Big List is the things I want to do, observe, and spend my time on in any given week.

Each week I think out loud as I’m planning and invite you to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Here is the week I hope to have:

11.27.22 – 12.03.22

• 27th – The Muppets (2011)
• 27th – Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
• 27th – Mickey Saves Christmas Disney +
• 28th – Colts Monday Night Football
• 28th – Great Christmas Light Fight ABC
• 29th – Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer CBS
• 30th – Christmas at Rockefeller Center NBC
• 1st – Dolly Parton Christmas NBC

First things first …

Be gentle on yourselves. We’ve learned lessons over the last few years about what behaviors and circumstances are sustainable, about what is healthy. Let’s apply them to the holiday season.

• What is essential? What can I modify or omit? Any shortcuts I can take?
• What can I delegate? What do I need to ask for help with?
• How am I going to pamper myself when my list is finished?

To Do / Enjoy / Remember:

• Listen to the Dolly Parton Christmas album
• Start Advent calendars
• Continue holiday decorating
• What are our decor storage needs? Anything worn out and in need of replacing?
• String up the outdoor lights
• Make any needed decoration repairs
• Prepare (or purchase) and freeze cookie dough
• Holiday crafts – wreaths, cards, ornaments I am going to keep it simple this year and pick just two crafts: updating our Christmas wreath and making paper bag stars
• REALITY CHECK: Will everything arrive in time? Will crafts be finished in time? What is the budget looking like?
• Shop Cyber Monday sales
• Purchase some Christmas gifts
• Wrap gifts as they are purchased and arrange them under the tree
• Mail packages, order gifts to be delivered to extended family
• Order gifts to be delivered to friends
• Purchase Christmas ham, roast, or poultry Any sales we can take advantage of now?
• Write down what I want to remember for Thanksgiving 2023 and put in the fall folder I have a set of seasonal file folders I use as a tear file for notes and magazines articles I want to remember, like analog Pinterest, ha!
• Mail holiday cards I’m not finished writing and addressing them, so this probably isn’t going to happen for me, but I’m going to try to at least get them all ready to mail by next week.
• Wipe down leather shoes, handbags w/ soft cloth (consider purchasing cotton dust bags) and do a quick closet tidy up
• Clean vacuum pre-motor filter
• Clean garbage disposal
• Boiling water, baking soda, vinegar to clear drains in bathrooms
• Top to bottom whole house spruce up and deep clean, one room at a time. This is probably going to be the last time I do this before next year. Take a few days and ask for help!
• Replace dish sponge (every 2 weeks)
• Change the letterboard
• Change calendars to December
• Transfer relevant November 2022 calendar events to November 2023 in my Katie Daisy calendar (note: this is an Amazon affiliate link, thank you!)
• Add notes and tasks to The Big List for November 2023 (a constant work in progress)
• Update Roku screensaver – I use family photos

I plan to put up my feet and knit along to …

• Holiday Baking Championship
• Saving Santa
• Frosty the Snowman
• Christmas Cookie Challenge
• Gingerbread Showdown

This is a good time of year to bookmark the Christmas TV Schedule site.

My main influences:

• Martha Stewart’s monthly calendars that were in her magazine (no longer in print).
• Cynthia Ewer’s Organized Home, which she has retired.
• Alison May’s Brocante Home.

Let’s be kinder than necessary this holiday season. (But with firm boundaries, okay babies? With firm boundaries.) Be brave. Be kind. Keep going.