Holiday Prep

Hello and happy Monday! First of all, a HUGE thank you to our Veterans and servicemen and women – we pray for you, thank you and are humbled by your service!!

I love a good DIY project as much as the next girl, (well, girls who love DIY projects), but sometimes it’s just getting the good old fashioned to do list done makes me the most happy.

There is nothing like the feeling of crossing something off a list, am I right? I have been known to write something that wasn’t there, just so I could scribble it out. Crazy maybe. Or brilliant? ;)

This time of year I always say I’m gong to be better prepared for the holidays, and every year I fail miserably. I mean, it’s not like the holidays suck or anything, but I always dream of an evening just relaxing in front of the lit up Christmas tree, sipping some hot cocoa, soaking it in. And it never happens.

So this year, I’m making an effort to get some stuff done and also declutter the house as much as possible before the holidays. I’ve gotten a ton done over the past week or so, starting with a quick run through of the house to see what needed to be donated. I ended up with one car full:

OK, a few of those things always live in my car because I’ve been meaning to return them for a while…but most of that stuff was donated or taken to the consignment shop.

Most of it was from the house, but some was from the garage. We figured out a way to better utilize the storage space in there, so it’s the cleanest and most decluttered I think it’s ever been:

And yes, that is clean for us. I haven’t been able to shut the doors on those cabinets for a YEAR. A year!! Whoo!! In the spring I’ll tackle the organization of the items inside them, (it ain’t pretty) but for now, we are able to walk into the house without tripping on stuff, which is awesome.

I drive by our neighbors houses with pristine, empty garages and wonder how it is possible. How do you live without 15 different lawn tools? ;) Someday I want to be those people. We’re getting there. (You should have seen the before.) At least we always park IN our garage – that’s something, right?

The weather was incredible this weekend, so yesterday we took care of some of the outside stuff that needed to be done before winter hits – mowing one last time, raking leaves, cleaning out the flower beds and window boxes, and I knocked a biggie off the to do list – I finally fixed our landscaping lights:

They’ve been broken since the spring and since then the plants have grown a ton so all the lights need to be moved. But I’m so glad to have those working before all the cold and snow hits! I looooove landscaping lights and they are so easy to install! Sometime I will do a tutorial – it really is simple.

Speaking of snow…we didn’t have time to get to the patio or deck yesterday, and of course today we get our first snow:

I forgot about those pumpkins. ;) We need to tackle that spot and get everything we can in the garage ASAP.

There are still two BIGGIES I want to take care of this week. First is the toys. OH, the toys. I always do a big purge before the holidays. My son’s birthday is in December as well so there’s an influx of new stuff that comes in.

The next is my beloved storage room in the basement. It’s kind of a disaster:

I adore this space, but I can barely walk in there right now. I finally made time to start on it the other night, walked in, and a MOUSE ran across one of the shelves. INCHES from my head people. Right next to my face. I’m just glad I survived.  

I can handle a power tool, but spiders, snakes and mice, no way. NO. WAY. So we caught him, released him outside and then guess who ran by my head last night when I went back in there to start on it again? Little dude. Same shelf. Same shriek from me.

Hubby thinks it may be the same one. All I know is I am sufficiently freaked and won’t be going back in there till the critter people come. It took everything in me to open the door to take this picture today. I thought I saw something moving about 25 times in ten seconds.

Seriously, I feel like if I looked hard enough at the picture I’d see him. Do you see him??? OK, don’t tell me. Really…do you see him?

*Shiver.*

Anyway, even with those projects still not done, I feel like I’ve accomplished a TON lately. Next, the actual planning for the holidays needs to start, and soon. Shopping lists, Christmas picture and cards, and of course the decorating!! (Which we don’t typically start till Thanksgiving weekend but I make no promises this year.)

So that’s what I’ve been up to all week! No great DIY to show lately, but it feels good to get the other stuff done.

How do you prep for the holidays? I loved Tracie’s ideas to do now (or soon), so you can really enjoy the holiday season. Do you meal plan? Clean the house top to bottom? Decrapify like I have? Do you write things down on your list just so you can mark them off like me? First one on my current list: Get rid of little mouse dude(s??).