Holiday Grand Plan - List Week

The Holiday Grand Plan is a combination of holiday prep, home organization and cleaning.

Really, it is fun and you can do it!

Spread over 18 weeks, starting today, the end result will be a calm holiday celebration - in a clean, organized and well prepared home! Think about that for a moment... not running around the day before Christmas Eve desperately trying to find stocking stuffers or searching for the last can of something you need for Christmas dinner or realizing you forgot to thaw your 30 lb turkey and the in-laws are knocking on your door... {shudder}

Not again! This year we will be calm... we will be prepared... and we will do it all in an organized and clean home - honest! All we need to do is follow the plan!

The tasks for the Holiday Grand Plan are broken down into weekly assignments, complete with printable calendars and forms. The first week is : List week - my favorite! I am a big paper planner, the key for me is to move from the planning stage to the doing stage!

With the holiday Grand Plan - we can do it!

The area worked on for cleaning and organizing this week is the front porch. This is the first impression of your home - what does mine say about me? Well, I would say it states: this lady is a great paper planner, but someone is grasshoppering from project to project!

We have worked a great deal on the front and side porches over the year. From what we thought would be a repair, to a complete redo on the side porch; then the front enclosed porch needed a whole new support system (it was sinking) and a new roof... along with new siding, painting, and trying to find a balance between function and honouring period features. The weather does not look like it will cooperate with working on the outside of the porches, so I will try to keep busy with my never ending, and added-to, to do list!

To do:

1. sew curtains for enclosed porch
2. reupholster porch chairs (paint chairs/table/ sideboard? Have not decided on this yet!)
3. paint
4. install new coach lite
5. fall urn
6. find new area rug for under table/chairs

For holiday prep this week I have printed the HGP pages, and started my new notebook! Did I mention I really like the Nutcracker used to decorate the HGP pages? An excellent choice for an Edwardian home.

I have made the following lists:

• Gifts to be given
  
• Christmas card list - still working on this, need to update and transfer to new computer
  
• Visits to make - have even added the dates to my calendar!
  
• Parties/ Entertaining - for us this is hosting 7, attending 2 - from Thanksgiving till 12th Night
  
• Menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas Tea, Winter Solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day Brunch, New Years Eve Fondue Party, New Years Day Skating Party and 12th Night.
  
• Goodies for sharing and giving - divided in batches between now and December 1.
  
• Family meals to freeze for the busy holiday season
  
• Long-term shopping list - divided into nonperishable, perishables by menu, seasonal flowers, linens and dishes, decorations...
  
• Advent to Epiphany Worship

Enjoy your day!