"Imminent Arrival" Friday Five

This week's Friday Five is short and sweet:

So let's make this easy, if we can: Tell us five things you need to accomplish before Christmas Eve.

Yikes. I don't know how anything can be easy in the next week.

1. I need to get my head in the game. In addition to Christmas preparations I am also 1) dealing, emotionally and practically, with my elderly aunt in her final days; 2) negotiating with neighbors who are going to purchase Cold Comfort Cottage -- that should be a good thing these days, right? -- whose timetable is going way too fast for me, whom I want to tell to back off until after the holidays; 3)with any luck, getting away for a long Christmas weekend; and 4)coping with work, which is probably grist for a blog all by itself but won't be. There's not a lot of room in my inn, if you get my drift.

2. We need to get the house decorated. I know; not a "need." But we want to do it. Our energies have been so wrapped up, if you pardon the pun, in getting our Christmas packages off to our out-of-town kin that we just haven't had time to do any household Christmas prep ourselves. You know the financial planners' favorite slogan about "Pay yourself first"? We tend not to do this at our house when it comes to holidays; we're the caretakers of everyone else's holiday, sometimes. (Visions of our respective therapists sitting, chin in hand, saying, "And how does that make you feel?" "Yes, but -- the point of the holidays is giving." "And what do you give yourselves?" "Yes, but...") Anyway...we don't have the tree up yet; which makes my Germanic self happy but my Americanized self panicky. And we need to merge my Christmas swag, which necessitates a trip to the Cottage, which means dealing with the neighbors who practically have the moving van backed up to the door...oy veh.

3. I need to tie some final strings in regard to our congregation's adopted Christmas family. This has been a very enjoyable endeavor this year, and our people have come through with flying colors for not only one but two holidays on behalf of this household.

4. I need to purchase some little stocking stuffers...like, right away. And another impending blizzard on Christmas Eve adds to the time pressure.

5. I need to find White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story on the weekend television schedule for Fellow Traveler, who is wanting to soak in some holiday spirit via film. I've already watched my obligatory annual A Charlie Brown Christmas, mouthing memorized dialogue as its being broadcast ("Isn't there anybody here who can tell me what Christmas is all about?" "Sure, Charlie Brown...")