And I am going to be ready really, I am. I am determined not to make myself a lunatic by December 24th. Even after I have just agreed to have Christmas Eve here for the first time...ever.

Christmas Eve was never a huge deal in my family growing up. We went to church, put out cookies for Santa and went to bed. Upon dating my someday to be husband back in 1985, Christmas Eve was never the same for me. I am Italian but let's not say as Italian as my husband and his family. Italian Christmas Eve is not for the faint of heart. There's more food than you can imagine. There's fish. LOTS of fish. Some of it I like, some of it grosses me out, fish salad with octopus legs hanging out of it for example(hence the picture...) For many years it was always at my Mother- in-law's house with people crammed in from one end of the house to the other. It was fun, LOUD (seems to be the holiday "theme") and crazy. Definitely not your "Silent Night O Holy Night" Christmas Eve. But since my in-laws have moved to Florida they come for Christmas and stay at my aunts house, and we have been doing the eve there. MIL asked if we could do it here this year since I have the room. She needs LOTS of room for the cooking process since she does most of it still. So I said yes. And no one is more surprised than me that it's not freaking me out.

Normally I would be freaking out at the thought of having it here. But like I said I am not going into lunatic mode. I have a good chunk of shopping done. My house is "un-Autumned" and relatively cleaned.

The Christmas decorations have been lugged upstairs by large male children.
I am taking a day at a time to decorate. I am not going to make myself nuts trying to get it done in one day or weekend for that matter. I did my kitchen yesterday and we put up the 10ft tree in the family room and decorated it together. We will get the real tree for the living room in a week or two. The cookies will get baked. The presents will get wrapped. The lights will get finished outside, all in due time.

Christmas Eve won't be the pandemonium it usually is. I am hoping for somewhere between pandemonium and "O Holy Night". There will be fish, even the yucky kinds. But we will share the load. This way maybe my MIL will get some time to sit and enjoy her grandchildren. We will have space to watch all the kids open their presents. We will eat, drink and be very merry. And when the little ones leave to go home and get to sleep so Santa can come, we will put cookies and milk out for Santa and bring Mikey up to bed. My parents will be here and they will stay up late and help do that Santa thing after the last kid is in bed.

I think it will be a nice change of pace. Sometimes change is good. I will be ready.

Oh! and P.S. We have gone over 10,000 hits today...thanks so much for stopping by!