Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of lists, especially to-do lists. Keeping track of what needs to be done, checking off things, watching the list get smaller – it’s just one little thing that helps keep me sane. Well, sane-ish. So here’s what I’ve done so far:

1. Finish Christmas shopping . . . . . DONE!

I finished on Sunday, with the exception being the one item that was going to go in my husband’s Christmas stocking that may or may not arrive before Christmas. Oh well. It’s out of my hands at this point. Moving on.

2. Build and decorate gingerbread house with the kids . . . . . DONE!

Technically, I cheated on this one since I didn’t actually build the gingerbread house. We found one that was pre-built and we brought it home to decorate. The kids have been asking to do a gingerbread house this year and, after last year’s sad, sad attempt, I wasn’t all that inclined to say yes. The main problem last year was that, despite the instructions assuring me that the icing was sticky enough to hold the thing together, the thing would not hold together. As soon as I moved on to the next piece, the first piece was falling off or the roof was sliding down. It was not fun. Having a pre-built house alleviated that stress and, really, the most fun is in the decorating anyway. The kids did a really good job, too! Now it can sit proudly atop our microwave for several months, like the last one did, until either my husband or I feel like it’s been long enough that the kids won’t notice that we’ve thrown it away.

3. Get ready for my office’s Secret Santa week . . . . . DONE!

Yes, this should fall under getting my Christmas shopping done, except that I’ve been really worried about this. Our office does a Secret Santa drawing every year and, this year, I got the new girl. I don’t really know much about her, except that she has a new puppy and that she’s really nice. So I just have to try and guess. Still, I hope she likes the things I found for her. I tried to find some nice things that had generic appeal without looking like I didn’t put any thought into it.

4. Finish the “Plot” chapter in Truby’s The Anatomy of Story . . . . . erm, not quite.

I have started it, though. I think I have resigned myself to the fact that very little writing is going to get done between now and Christmas. The kids are so hyped up, it is almost impossible to think around here. I will have some down time the week between Christmas and New Year’s, so I plan on getting a lot done then. It’s so hard to find the time when you have kids and a husband and a house, not to mention a stressful full-time job. I also recognize that this is a very convenient excuse that I let myself take advantage of. It’s something I’m going to work on in 2012.