What are you doing New Year’s?
I know what you’re thinking…it’s only September 29th. Ah yes, I know it’s not even Halloween yet but my dear friends, by then it will be too late. My co-workers know that I often divide many things in life between “the precipice and the abyss”. The idea of being on the end of the cliff and falling off it into who knows what. This is “precipice week” by that I mean, the last week before the end of the year “holiday hoopla” begins. This is the week that I would use (if I was smart and organized) to prepare for those last three months of the year. While I have the patience and a level head I would dig out my holiday cards and find my address list and set them on my desk. I would make plane reservations for holiday travel, set up office and personal gift lists and start scouring websites to see where I could buy said gifts for a reasonable price. I would figure out a Halloween costume and see what I would need to put it together etc. I would gather all this information and have it at the ready or in action so that when the time comes I am one step away from completing each task. The perfect time to do this is now while there are no pressing lists of things to do. I’ve already put away Summer (for the most part) so I’m hanging out enjoying the lull. I need to snap to! (This is not just a blog, it’s a pep talk to myself!)
Instead, like most people (or at least like I usuallly do) I will wait until October25th or so to try an do something about a costume and pout the whole party because I had a great costume idea but didn’t have time to put it together. I’ll curse the first week of November that there’s only one seat left on a flight I don’t really want and it’s really expensive because I didn’t get online and buy the ticket last week so it’s the only way to get home for the holidays. I’ll have to tell my Mom, “Oh I’ll get crab for Christmas” because I didn’t order it in time to make it by Thanksgiving. I’ll come back and get more expensive plane tickets for Christmas and forget the crab again and end up sending spare ribs or lobster tails at the last minute. I’ll send out about five cards because I have those addresses memorized and I”l be doing that on the plane home and hope I remember to mail them when I get off. I’ll spend more than I want or can really afford on gifts because I’m the one in the mall December 23rd and I’ll be up all night Christmas Eve wrapping them. Finally I will spend yet another New Year’s with Dick Clark and now Ryan Seacrest because I didn’t think about making plans until Christmas and everything’s super expensive and I already spent my slush fund between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any of this sound familiar? Well I plan to break the cycle this year starting with getting my Dad his gift on time for his birthday on October 10th. (I’m lucky my family’s birthday’s are perfect checkpoints. Dad in October, Mom in November and my brother’s right after New Year’s) If all goes well with my plans I’ll be eating bons bons (that I orderdred the day after my bro’s birthday) on my couch on Valentine’s Day, smile on my face and sensible credit card statement in hand. You?