It’s been a few days since I decided to try to elevate my Christmas spirit for the year. In that time, I’ve done a few things to try to not only raise my spirits, but also to spread a little holiday cheer to those around me.
On Saturday, my wife and I planned a night-in. She had been out for most of the day doing a craft fair run with her mom, aunt and cousin. When she got home, we put on our PJ’s, ordered some take-out from Swiss Chalet (Festive meals!) and watched some Christmas movies. We decided to start non-traditionally. First up was Office Christmas Party, followed by The Night Before. Lots of laughs and a good dose of Christmas spirit.
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Another item that I took on was to make a Christmas CD for the members of my team. I had done this a few times previously, but it had been three years since I had last took the time to do so. Rather than make a CD for all 19 people, I decided to see how many would be interested in receiving one. 13 of the 19 wanted a copy, so off I went to make a nice mix. Being the slightly OCD person that I am (sometimes…), I had to make sure that I wasn’t using the same songs on the CD as I had with the one I gave them 3 years ago. Even though when I last made it, my team consisted of 8 people, so the majority had not gotten one. I made myself a playlist with all of the songs I wanted to use, which ended up being about three times too long for a CD, and then proceeded o slowly whittle it down. Finally, the track listing was complete! Next up – make a CD cover. This time, I opted to print it on card stock rather than buy CD cases. Finally, cut and assemble the cases, and voilà – Christmas album.
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On Monday evening, Walt Disney World was live streaming their “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” holiday projection show from Hollywood Studios. Isabelle and I plopped down onto the couch in the living room and fired up the stream. It was a dazzling spectacle – one that I would love to see in person someday. And I will! You can watch the recording of the stream on YouTube. Disney always finds a way to spread their magic, and it most certainly helped to increase my Christmas spirit.
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Although we’ve decorated the exterior of our home, we haven’t really done the inside yet. That will be this week. I have a few other ideas in mind, not to mention a pile of Christmas TV specials and movies that I hope to watch. This is a good first kick at the can to boost my mood. I’ll post a few more updates between now and the big day to track my momentum. But as far as today goes, I think it’s safe to say that I’m at a solid level of Christmas spiritness!
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