One Month to Christmas

One month until Christmas! Can you believe it? I have a goal of being done all gift shopping by the end of the first week of December. This will free me up to fully embrace and enjoy all of the wonders and socializing of the season that I love so very much. Ambitious? For me -- very!

Another goal I had set for myself was to make every effort to purchase goods that have been ethically and responsibly produced. That is turning out to be more difficult than I anticipated. In my two trips to the mall I was overwhelmed by the blatant commercialism (I know, it's nothing new) and sheer volume of STUFF. I don't want to buy stuff for the sake of buying stuff. I want to find meaningful, thoughtful gifts that show the people who I love that I know their wants and interests. I resorted to doing alot of my shopping online. I have found several sites that provide a wide assortment of special gifts (lots of organic stuff) that have been handmade from artisans around the globe or that benefit causes that are important to me and others. From the comfort of this laptop I can search, review and select the gifts I want without the chaos and air sucking environment of the mall.

I am also in the midst of planning special activities for our after (Christmas) dinner family time. This year it will be a family trivia game. It will be a time for us all to get to know one another just a little bit better, and for the youngest members of the family to learn about their heritage.

So -- one month to go! Countdown to the ultimate famjam is on! Now where is that credit card???