Preparing for the Holidays

It's creeping up quickly. Christmastime. Pretty soon I'll be pulling my grandmother's tree out of the garage and struggling with hanging lights. But I'm vowing to make this Christmas different. Come on, I'm the NICE girl, right? It would be out of character if I didn't try to do something socially responsible.

At Barnes and Noble the other day I picked up this book, 1001 Ways to Do Good. When paging through, one jumped out at me.

#361. Organize a Neighborhood Food Drive

Hmm. Well, I live in the perfect neighborhood. It's a small, confined suburban development filled with townhouses and condos. I could hit a lot of homes in a short amount of time. The more I started thinking about, the more I liked the idea. I could design little cards to leave at their doors...no, door hangers! And I could ask people to either bring their bags to my house or leave them on their doorstep at a particular date and time and I could go around the neighborhood picking them up. Easy! I mean, everyone must have some cans or boxes of something they aren't using in their pantry. Right? So I contacted the Food Bank of South Jersey, and they are super supportive of the idea! My goal is to do this the first week of December. I really hope all goes well. If it does, I'd love to make it a yearly tradition!

My other good thought was actually Rob's step mom's idea. She mentioned at the last family function that instead of buying gifts, she'd rather just chip in and buy a family a llama, something her mom continues to do with her friends. We chuckled at the idea, but I really think it's brilliant! Every Christmas, we painlessly stand in front of the grocery story gift card wall and select presents for Rob's family. And you know what? We get the same things in return. Not that I'm not grateful! But it seems a little pointless to give someone a $50 Lowes gift card when they give you the same exact thing right back.

So in that book, they mention Heifer International, where you can provide needy families with resources like cows, llamas, sheep, chicks, etc.


I'm going to print out the info and bring it along to Thanksgiving. I feel like I might be maturing. (Finally, at 28 years old!) Normally, I'm pretty greedy. I want gifts. Good ones. Lots of them. But really, for the first time this year, I don't want anything. And I can say that in all honesty. I always thought my parents were crazy when they said things like that, but maybe they are right. Maybe I got to the age when I have everything that I need. A wonderful husband, a good job, a beautiful home, a loving family. What else could I ask for?

I mean seriously. I already have Rock Band.