Only 40 Days

Daniel is already counting as he has learned to use the calendar and is counting the days until Christmas and his birthday (more than 3 months away).

I have finished my November/December budget that includes my Christmas budget too. I have started gift lists and have a few gifts already in hand and Thanksgiving meal planning and shopping has started.

Today I am focusing on the kitchen, getting the freezers stocked for the holidays and meals planned for the next seven weeks. Yes, I am planning out meals to make it through my Christmas Break which ends on the second day of 2009. I have stocked up on some items, and I don't have any freezer room left to play. I have 15 pounds of ground beef, six pounds of chicken breasts, 15 pounds of cookie dough, three pies, frozen burritos, a lasagna, about eight frozen individual meals for Daniel's lunches or to-go lunches, and fruits and vegetables.

Daniel has also let me know that we are just twelve days out from Thanksgiving, so the back refrigerator is getting cleaned out to hold the perishable ingredients as they wait to be prepared, traditional recipe dishes as they are assembled and the leftovers afterward. I am really hoping to do it on a much simpler scale, as the kids seem to enjoy their favorites without anything new added to the traditional menu, or much creative flair.