I am going to make it through Christmas by......

[angels04]

baking alot of cookies,not worrying if the house is a little  messy (yea right!), having some of the food catered, enjoying myself, and paying the price the next few days! 
but it will all be worth it

[KellyG999]

... eating a lot of cookies, purchasing gifts online, getting extra naps and having faith!!!

KellyG

[mshistory]

Focusing on the joy on my children's faces when they get up on Christmas morning, and then that will make all this crazy, hectic pre-Christmas preparation stuff worth it 

[Jellyb]

What a great post!
I have been sippin salted caramel hot chocolate and listening to Michael Buble chistmas!

[A66eyroad]

We have 35 people to buy for each year -- four kids, nine grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and brothers and sisters and their spouses.

This year, we decided that everybody is getting socks of some kind (C'mas socks, Disney socks, athletic socks, toe socks, nice trouser socks) with a $20 bill pleated and sticking out. We had fun picking out socks, and didn't have to go to 50 different stores and spend hours and hours wrapping.

It still cost a fortune, but at least it was fast and fun.

[divingdancer]

well, we usually have a busy family Christmas but mum is in Italy visiting my sister,  my daughter is in South Africa and my step daughter is visiting her mum.

That leaves me, my daughter who has CFS/ME and my son.

We are having a slobs Christmas.  We are staying in our PJ's ALL day, and as the tv is usually repeats then we are planning to watch ALL the Harry Potter movies.  I have bought some posher frozen dinners so we don't have to cook and clean up. 

All my work colleagues think I'm mad but I just need a rest this year. 

We are all looking forward to our chilled Christmas.

[angels04]

divingdancer
actually, your christmas sounds lovely! Its about spending quality time with people not what you eat or where you eat it! enjoy and relax!

[artsyamerican]

By taking my medicine reguarly ( I am the world's worst ), by trying not to eat too much sugar (it makes everything worse), and not stressing - over anything (makes things mega worse).

No travels this year.  Just my youngest daughter and I at home celebrating Christmas, relaxing, having fun. 

[Jenny]

Helping the less fortunate. I bought and wrapped almost 20 gifts for a couple of less fortunate families this week. (the wrapping was the worst part!). It helped made me realize that I am lucky despite my health issues.

[soycoffee]

[ . . . ]
We are having a slobs Christmas.  We are staying in our PJ's ALL day, and as the tv is usually repeats then we are planning to watch ALL the Harry Potter movies.  I have bought some posher frozen dinners so we don't have to cook and clean up. 
[ . . .]

Mind if I join you?
Soycoffee

[Joe S.]

My guess is that we will spend part of our day with the grand children. Home will be as easy as we can make it. I will try to take naps over the weekend. If I can not nap, I will try to meditate. I hope to a first draft of my book for editing. Currently there are only 570 pages to check for spelling, grammar and context errors.

[arina83]

Asking for help, and leaving the big stuff to others. My sister will probably do most of the cooking, and I'll help if I feel up to it. My dad will take care of the animals.

Have all my shopping done. Will leave dealing with putting up a tree and decorating to my sister. If not, I have a little Disney Christmas tree hat on top of my loom.

Only thing I have left to do myself is decorate cookies and visit out neighbor. 

And after Christmas, I'll get started shopping/making stuff for next year. Only way I can stay sane, and I don't need to go on massive shopping trips. Will pick up things as I see them.

[irish]

I am going to get through Christmas by not worrying about my Christmas cards. I am working on them although I am not "into" it this year and the cards will get mailed when they get mailed---even if it is after Christmas.

The rest I don't have to worry about cause my DIL is having Christmas. Irish

[Meld256]

trying to chill out and enjoy being with family.  My husband and I are invited to our SIL's family get-together with our daughter in Ohio.  I just love this bunch of people and never get time to spend with them.  I think we'll have fun! 

[genko_b]

We've scaled back on Christmas over the years, with nothing left but the essential-to-us. For me it is the Christmas tree, with a collection of ornaments dating back 150 years, some literally brought from the "old country" on the boat when ancestors emigrated here. For my husband it is the Christmas letter, still snail-mailed to friends and family. We drive around looking at the light displays (my sister's thing), and Christmas day is an all-day casual buffet of ham, biscuits from a can, fresh fruit and a salad (our grown daughter's thing). Family can drop in anytime to chat, open presents, eat or just visit. A kettle is always on for tea.

Here's the tree, in process:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/genko_b/6524589731/in/photostream

We no longer try to guess what to get each other for Christmas, and rather than spend money on more stuff we don't really need we have gotten into giving service gifts to each other. This year topped them all. My husband and our grown son spent two weeks volunteering together in Cambodia - a chance of a lifetime and a great father/son bonding experience. It was worth every penny. The present for me was seeing the smiles on their faces.

Take care,

Genko