It has been a while since I've posted anything, but my excuse is that the holidays are coming up. Yeah, I know, not a great excuse, but hey it's my story and I'm sticking to it!! Thinking of the holidays got me to thinking about how I "manage" Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am a Project Manager after all, and my daily job is to "get things done". I apply my project management skills and make sure the holidays run smoothly for me and my family.
About a month out from Thanksgiving, usually sometime in October, I start thinking and planning. The first task is to determine where Thanksgiving will be held for our family. I absolutely love to cook for Thanksgiving so most years we host everyone at our house. The second task is determining who will be attending. This year our count is 13. From there I start a spreadsheet (that I keep saved on my hard drive to reuse every year). My spreadsheet has a list of all dinner items and a name for a responsible individual. That means that for Turkey, my name is next to it. I need to buy, prepare and cook the turkey. Once I decide what items I will be making I send the list around with my name filled in on my items to the rest of the family. Everyone has a chance to contribute and bring something that way. It also makes my job of cooking a little bit easier as I am not responsible for everything.
Once we have the menu finalized I start working on a timeline. I have yet to pull out Microsoft Project to produce my Thanksgiving cooking timeline, but now I am starting to think about it... Oh well, maybe next year! My timeline is a handwritten list of to-dos that I need to follow on the days leading up to Thanksgiving. This starts with the grocery shopping, what foods I can prepare ahead of time and then the timing of cooking individual items on Thanksgiving Day. If I am hosting at my house I will take the day before Thanksgiving off so that I can bake pies (I make a mean "from scratch" pumpkin pie) and do any other prep work before the big day such as homemade cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. About 24 hours before Thanksgiving I also start brining my turkey -I have found that a brined turkey produces the juiciest turkey and is always a hit.
So far things are going quite smoothly this year and I even have time planned into the day to sit down and watch the Packers play the Lions! I am a Packers fan and my husband is a Lions fan so there will be some serious family rivalry occurring at our house that day. The game falls perfectly into my schedule of when my turkey should be in the oven and all other items should either be prepped and ready to go or already done. The biggest and best part of Thanksgiving for me (and I hope for everyone else as well) is that I get to spend the day with people I love. That is what I am most thankful for -I have some wonderful and amazing people in my life even if some are far away and I cannot spend Thanksgiving Day with them.
Speaking of wonderful people in my life, I start my Christmas spreadsheet around the same time that I start my Thanksgiving spreadsheet. It is actually a separate tab in one large document. Every year I keep a list of the items that I am going to buy and/or make for each individual. This spreadsheet includes family and friends, as well as neighbors and my daughter's class and teachers. By keeping everything organized in this manner I can ensure I don't miss anyone and I can keep track of my shopping. Since I keep a spreadsheet each year I also have record of what I bought in prior years. This can be helpful if I know a certain gift was greatly appreciated and if I would like to give something similar, or if a gift was a dud (thankfully to my knowledge that hasn't happened yet).
With the holidays fast approaching I appreciate the fact that I keep everything organized. This way I can focus my time on the things that are truly important such as enjoying the time I spend with family and friends.
Cheers to you and yours –may you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy, laughter and plenty of time spent with loved ones!
About a month out from Thanksgiving, usually sometime in October, I start thinking and planning. The first task is to determine where Thanksgiving will be held for our family. I absolutely love to cook for Thanksgiving so most years we host everyone at our house. The second task is determining who will be attending. This year our count is 13. From there I start a spreadsheet (that I keep saved on my hard drive to reuse every year). My spreadsheet has a list of all dinner items and a name for a responsible individual. That means that for Turkey, my name is next to it. I need to buy, prepare and cook the turkey. Once I decide what items I will be making I send the list around with my name filled in on my items to the rest of the family. Everyone has a chance to contribute and bring something that way. It also makes my job of cooking a little bit easier as I am not responsible for everything.
Once we have the menu finalized I start working on a timeline. I have yet to pull out Microsoft Project to produce my Thanksgiving cooking timeline, but now I am starting to think about it... Oh well, maybe next year! My timeline is a handwritten list of to-dos that I need to follow on the days leading up to Thanksgiving. This starts with the grocery shopping, what foods I can prepare ahead of time and then the timing of cooking individual items on Thanksgiving Day. If I am hosting at my house I will take the day before Thanksgiving off so that I can bake pies (I make a mean "from scratch" pumpkin pie) and do any other prep work before the big day such as homemade cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. About 24 hours before Thanksgiving I also start brining my turkey -I have found that a brined turkey produces the juiciest turkey and is always a hit.
So far things are going quite smoothly this year and I even have time planned into the day to sit down and watch the Packers play the Lions! I am a Packers fan and my husband is a Lions fan so there will be some serious family rivalry occurring at our house that day. The game falls perfectly into my schedule of when my turkey should be in the oven and all other items should either be prepped and ready to go or already done. The biggest and best part of Thanksgiving for me (and I hope for everyone else as well) is that I get to spend the day with people I love. That is what I am most thankful for -I have some wonderful and amazing people in my life even if some are far away and I cannot spend Thanksgiving Day with them.
Speaking of wonderful people in my life, I start my Christmas spreadsheet around the same time that I start my Thanksgiving spreadsheet. It is actually a separate tab in one large document. Every year I keep a list of the items that I am going to buy and/or make for each individual. This spreadsheet includes family and friends, as well as neighbors and my daughter's class and teachers. By keeping everything organized in this manner I can ensure I don't miss anyone and I can keep track of my shopping. Since I keep a spreadsheet each year I also have record of what I bought in prior years. This can be helpful if I know a certain gift was greatly appreciated and if I would like to give something similar, or if a gift was a dud (thankfully to my knowledge that hasn't happened yet).
With the holidays fast approaching I appreciate the fact that I keep everything organized. This way I can focus my time on the things that are truly important such as enjoying the time I spend with family and friends.
Cheers to you and yours –may you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy, laughter and plenty of time spent with loved ones!