And on and on December goes

Now it is December 9th and I have decided that I am getting stressed. It's not the shopping. The shopping is done! Well, I do need to buy some "toys for tots" gifts, but that's easy. A few things have been ordered and may not arrive in time and all that, but really we're good. Shopping's not the problem. So what is?

1. The cards. OK, they arrived, all 75 of them. I made a rough list of who to send them to and that list has about 70 people on it (70 HOUSEHOLDS, I should say), so I ordered 75 cards in order to have a few extras. Tonight I put return address labels on 70 envelopes. Do you know how long that took???? Actually, I didn't time it. But it took more than 5 minutes, I'm sure of that. Tomorrow I'll start addressing the envelopes. Do you know how long it takes to address 70 envelopes???? I don't either, but I'm sure it is a long time. Then I have to think about each card. We do a Christmas letter insert (not finished yet, must finish it ASAP), but I also like to write a note on each card. Do you know how long it takes to write notes on 70 cards?????? And who are all these 70 people and their families? Do they really want to get a holiday card from us? And have I forgotten anyone? Anyway.

2. The party. OK, so we're having this tortoise club party next week. I'm looking forward to it, should be a pleasant evening. But Rocket Boy is losing his mind worrying about cleaning up for it. I look around our living room and I think, "looks nice, could use a little sprucing up, but overall looks nice." Rocket Boy looks at our living room and thinks "OK, if the twins could go on a nap drive ALL WEEKEND maybe I could start to make a dent in this disastrous mess." I swear it's not that bad, really. We don't use that room very much. But Rocket Boy was raised by a German hausfrau for whom cleanliness was way more important than godliness. Anyway, I am going to try to clean to Rocket Boy's satisfaction, while still enjoying the party. Stay tuned.

3. My 100 books! How can I possibly read 10 books this month! I have read 3 so far and it is December 9th. If I keep up this pace (1 book every 3 days) I will be OK. But how can I keep up this pace later in the month???? I just know that on December 31st I will be at 98 books, frantically trying to read 2 more.

4. Christmas candy! Ack! I haven't bought any in the past week but I am losing my mind because I WANT to buy more. Soon the mint M&Ms will be gone from the shelves until next November and I will have missed the opportunity to eat several thousand more of them. I am going to a wedding at the end of December and I would like to be LESS fat for that, not MORE fat, which is what I will be if I buy and eat more mint M&Ms. So must stay away from the mint M&Ms (and all forms of peppermint bark), focus on the joys of the new Weight Watchers, and... and what? I lost my train of thought because I was thinking about mint M&Ms.

5. It's past 10 pm and I need to go to bed and read!

Christmas stress, can't avoid it, gotta love it.