Christmas in July!

I'm so excited. An item that I ordered a week ago just came in the mail. I love it! I wish I could go into detail about it. It's actually our Christmas gift to my dad and his wife Pati (who obviously reads our blog). That's right, I said Christmas gift. It's not the first one I've purchased for this year either (more like my third!). As everyone knows (if you don't, you know now), I LOVE to plan. With being a stay-at-home mom, I (amazingly) have spare time to plan all sorts of things: dinners, vacations, holidays, etc. I have a notebook where I write everything down. I really hate waiting until the last minute. So I have made a goal that with every paycheck I buy a Christmas gift for someone. That way, come November for shopping on Black Friday, I just need to focus on Pete and the boys. Last Christmas felt like a disaster. I had to wait until the last minute to go purchase items for some family members, and sadly they didn't arrive until after Christmas. Usually I'm on top of things, but not that time. I don't want to make that mistake again. When I made my first Christmas purchase a month ago, it was exhilarating. Just knowing that it's one less person/family I will have to buy for later on is a great feeling for me. I really love that Pete's family alternates siblings each year. His immediate family is huge (and still growing!), and buying for everyone would break the bank. So each year, we get a different sibling, which then we buy for them and their family. I like the idea of doing a family gift. This year we have the Brignones, which has seven members in that family. I think I came up with a creative gift idea. The 'main' gift has been bought; just gotta add the final little details to the gift. As for everyone else on our Christmas list, I have an idea of what we'll get everyone. In the beginning of our relationship, Pete thought I was neurotic with how I plan things so far in advance (who am I kidding-he still thinks I am to this day! haha). However, he has come to appreciate my neuroticness. I do all the planning and the work. When it comes time for Christmas, for example, and everything has been taken care of and he just has to sit back and relax, he loves it! This Friday is our next payday. Hmmm...lets see how's next on my list... :)