Family, Friends and Giving Back

I'm sure everyone has gone through at least one insane holiday season. Several years ago I decided after rushing around, from event to event and putting the house together, and buying gifts, Oh, and working, that enough was enough.

I thought a lot about the season and came to the conclusion that I needed to create a different type of holiday season for myself and my family.

I thought about what I wanted to keep on the list of things to do.. the activities that happen outside my home that were important to me... the first was the holiday tea at that the local historical society, it's the first weekend in December. And, The Flea Market Friends always go to the local junior college flea market the first Saturday of the month. The Christmas finds are alway wonderful!!

And then the biggie... the Flea Market Friends travel about an hour away from our homes in Santa Clara Valley, to Alameda, California, where the Alameda Point Flea Market is held on the first Sunday of the month. It's a great location, on the tarmac of the retired Alameda Naval station, right on the San Francisco Bay. On a clear day you can see right across the bay to the skyline of San Francisco. The view is amazing.

Another important event I decided to keep in my holiday life was the Christmas Tea that I host with one of the Flea Market Friends. We have done this many, many, Christmas seasons. For the Christmas Tea we include our daughters. We usually have about 30 to 35 people for the Christmas Tea. It's at my house this year.

And something that is right at the top of my list of activities to keep is helping decorate our church for the holiday season. I will also help prepare the food baskets for the families in our community that our church sponsors...it's so important to give back!!

The other change we made was with the girls. They are all "grown up" for the most, I still have two in college. They range in age from 32 to 21. And the oldest is married. We now exchange names and we have a secret Santa. And Mr. Math and I do one gift for each of the girls and stocking stuffers. This has cut down on the expense of course, and everyone seems to get more meaningful gifts. We also do matching PJ's for the girls and my son-in-law gets his own pair. He has accepted this tradition with grace!!

So the first weekend in December is a big one for me. After the that, the rest of the month is downhill.

Once I thought about what was really important to me and scaled down my activities, the holiday season came together for me.

Hoping your Holiday Season is whatever you want it to be!!

Chris