Are you ready, yet?

No, not for this weekend. Not for the rest of this month.

Are you ready for the holidays?

As I type this, my fatigue level is 100 on a scale of 1-10. And just as my eyes have beheld the latest of my many prescription refill forms, so, too, have they beheld the first hint of holidays – Halloween candy is making an appearance, barely a few weeks after vendors’ “Christmas in July” sales.

Oh, my!

At this moment, I cannot imagine mustering the energy for all the activity that winds and races through Oct-Nov-Dec. But, I can start thinking of how I’m going to approach that magical, wonderful, exhausting season.

I begin with things health. End-of-year appointments, tests, records checking (is all the emergency contact information/MedicaAlert info correct?)

Next, I do a “mock run” of the things I’ll need to do during holiday season – and I cut it back, item by item. As we all know, those holiday days tend to become packed with things known and things unknown (at least right now), so I want to leave ample breathing – and resting – room.

Then, comes updating and getting ahead of any holiday messages/cards/gifts that will be used or needed. I used to hand-address my cards. No more. Printed labels are wonderful things, and with a click of a button, I can change colors or fonts to reflect the season.

Now is also an excellent time to think about travel plans, and make arrangements or reach out to people you might not be able to visit or see this year.

Finally, ahead of the holidays, I pray and read up on what makes this coming time of year so special, so profound.