Holiday De-stress List

That's DE-Stress List, not Distress List. I refuse to be distressed right now. Makin' my list and checkin' it twice, here's the plan:

1. Don't think about money. My gift budget isn't out of whack at all, but the season does leave some shortages here and there, if you know what I mean (and if you don't, then I'm not thinkin' about you, either). I always pull through somehow, so I'm going to run on faith that I'll slide by again. Mark $$-worries off my list until January.
2. Get a massage. Absolutely - I have an appointment for 7 o'clock this evening. I hope to have bones of jelly by 8.
3. Read A Child's Christmas in Wales again. And again. And again. Did it snow for 12 days and nights when I was 6, or 6 days and nights when I was 12? (Paraphrasing, of course.)
4. Watch It's a Wonderful Life and Christmas in Connecticut. I save these two for last. There's a definite order to my Christmas movies that I find comforting and familiar. I know - what a dork!
5. Have a glass of wine or a gin and tonic every evening after work. I don't need more than one drink, really. If made properly, the first one works wonders. If the first one doesn't relax me, then ten won't. Just one good one for me, please.
6. Pile the Christmas cards I've received so far in my lap, look and read each carefully, celebrating the person who sent it and the relationship we've shared. I never throw out Christmas cards, by the way - I save them in a huge box and love looking through them again year after year. Kate'll just have to deal with them when I'm dead.
7. Don't worry about food/calories/dieting/exercise. Just indulge. Like the money worries, I always make it through somehow - gaining here and there, but at some point working it off. Eat, drink, and be merry.
   
8. Don't worry about writing - or more accurately, not writing. I'm going to sleep late and enjoy it. I think I need to re-charge. I'll come back to it.
9. Do what I want to do, within reason. If I want to accept an invitation, I will. If for some reason I'd rather stay in and watch The House Without a Christmas Tree, I will. I'm a grown-up and I can say yes or no.
   
10. Laugh. A lot. Actively seek funny stuff. Avoid things that piss me off (like mean people and politics).

And now, my little gingerbread cookies, I must take care of #2 on my list. Chill while I'm gone.