What do you still have left to do?

[Musidora]

One week to go, so some people will be 99% sorted and others will be getting started. What’s still on your Christmas prep to-do list?

Mine:

1 still waiting for one present to be delivered, I’m starting to think it might not arrive in time and I’ll need to venture to the shops to find a replacement.

2 get the final bits of chocolate for the stockings.

3 about 4 presents left to wrap.

4 the house is a tip again despite my early December deep clean, so I’ll need to spend some of this weekend making it presentable.

5 hosting drinks next week - need to buy drinks and food for that.

6 need to make a few things ahead of Christmas Day - red cabbage and stuffing might be all that gets done. And I’d like to bake some mince pies and cookies if I get time.

7 make a restaurant reservation for NYE

8 the big Christmas food shop. I haven’t pre-ordered anything this year except the turkey so am hoping I can get everything I need in person…

Please share your lists, I always find these threads helpful as I’ve probably forgotten about 10 things I still need to do!

I still need to :-
Wrap a couple of pressies including DH’s
Buy a couple more bits for DM, including a plant
Clean right through & find my kitchen table!
Buy a Christmas tablecloth
Put the cards up
Buy extra batteries
Buy a card for DD14
Do the main food shop including a beef joint (having spiced beef)
DH is going to make mincepies & his amazing mincemeat frangipani

@chocolateisavegetable Thank you!

We were all set for Christmas together last year but we all live in different countries and the Covid testing rules just made it too much of a gamble so we cancelled in the end.

Still can't believe it's actually happening! I will also get to spend 24 hours with my brother who I haven't seen since Sept 2019.

It does put all the present buying commercialised nonsense into perspective. I just want to us all to be together. We have spent some time with them this year but that was back in June.

I'm cooking on Christmas Day but the children will be doing all the food shopping - result 😎(they are also very well trained clearer-uppers. Go me!).

Ours froze too, shame it had to flood the kitchen before I discovered it was frozen solid.

Buy presents
wrap presents
finalise the food shop (delivery Friday)
collect meat from butchers (dh Friday)
clean house (cleaner has pneumonia)
im working all week, not sure when most of this shit will be done but Dh is off this week with the dc so there will be some delegation.
only cooking for 14 this year which is a small Christmas by our usual standards so at least it will be a more relaxed affair.

I'm hosting Christmas eve because sis has her very elderly in laws at Christmas.
So doing a buffet for 10.
Christmas day will be very relaxed, just adult DC coming.
I've never been so organised. Ever. Everything wrapped. Freezer is full of things that just need baking on the morning, cheescakes, desserts just need de-frosting.
I've just made crackers with gifts inside.
Collect meat on Thursday.
Clean house Friday.

Wrap presents - they are in piles and organised just need wrapping
Put money in gift cards for kids and niece
Print off family pictures for year for mum and put in frames
Buy neighbour gifts and write cards
Food shop being delivered Wednesday
Get any things out of stock at M&S Thursday night, few gluten free treats for fil and mum a plant for the house/garden
Work Do Thursday then finish work
Meal with Inlaws Friday - organise presents and things for niece to do at meal
Meal with parents Saturday and mums birthday - organise presents
Relax

Oh and finish crackers with gifts inside

Need a gift for my dh
Need a gift for my uncle
Dh needs gifts for his side of the family
Need to get the food shop in
Need to wrap gifts
Need my parcels to arrive in the post.

I still need to clean the house

Get the last bits of food (got most of it today but still need to buy the potato and swede casseroles and beetroot salad closer to the day, just looking now at getting it delivered on Thursday so I'd still have the chance to go to the shop to find anything that doesn't arrive)

Make several batches of fudge for presents for inlaws and neighbours.

Need to take the ham out of the freezer in time to defrost for Saturday, and need to figure out when I need to take it out (3kg boneless ham, any idea how long it'll take to defrost? I usually overestimate)

Make dough for Christmas bread and a Star bread, to bake on the day

I haven't made a gingerbread house yet but might not bother this year. I'll wait and see if the children mention it. Got gingerbread dough in the freezer anyway.

Still need a Christmas tree but that's OH's job, he can get one from the market after work one day next week and the children can decorate.

The presents have been wrapped (well OH hasn't wrapped the ones he bought but he better not ask me to wrap them) except for some clothes which I'm washing now so they'll be ready to wear straight away, the Christmas cupboard is full of booze and fizzy drinks and chocolates, and I've baked sweet buns and frozen them to defrost whenever we need something baked and seasonal.

totally pinching the festive bullet points someone used upthread…

🎄 Wrap 2x last minute stocking gifts for the DC
🎄Wrap 2x books (one each for DC)
🎄Feed the cake one last time; glaze and marzipan on Thursday then ice on Friday
🎄Finalise Ocado order (being delivered on 23rd)
🎄Retrieve Special Cutlery from box in loft (we’ve done a lot of work on the house this past year and some stuff has disappeared into the upper void…)
🎄Bake cookies/festive cupcakes for neighbours and write their cards
🎄Collect meat and cheese from local chi chi emporium
🎄Sample said cheese in case it’s not worthy…
🎄Iron new Christmas napkins now that I’ve washed them
🎄Inflate what turns out to be approx 8x the size I thought it’d be fuschia pink foil no 6 balloon for DD (I’m surprising her with tickets to see 6 the musical…) It’s not going to fit in the gift bag but whatevs 🤷‍♀️
🌲Take DD to get her braids removed and redone
🎄Help DD wrap her gifts
🎄write cards for both DC (I know, I know: we’re under the same roof but they do like receiving their own special card with nice message of praise and motivation, bless them!)
🌲Make the chocolate orange cheesecake I’m making for Christmas Day for those who dislike Christmas pud (and for me and DP to have with Christmas pud as we’re greedy beggars…)
🎄Buy something/make something/ do something for the Christmas Day centrepiece but not quite sure what my vision might be for this!!
🎄Open the Cornish Delight clotted cream and caramel liquor that we bought when we were there in the summer!!!
🎄Clean the whole house: it’s a midden!!!
🎄Work on Monday!

And I LOVE the poster who said they’d planned on learning the whole of Frosty the Snowman ☃️ on keys. This kind of pledge/goal sounds too like something I’d set out to do… only to not do it!!

Hmmmm… I’ve more left to do than I thought!!

Collect the turkey from the farm shop. Make up guest bedrooms.
Ice the chestnut chocolate log with Nutella.
Make the turkey stuffings.
Soak the streaky bacon rashers in whisky, ready to wrap the turkey.
Final house clean.
That’s it.
(Assuming Sainsbugs delivers all the rest of the food on Tuesday as booked.)
I have long Covid fatigue, so started in November and got everything done slowly in advance. Now I hope I have the energy to go carol singing round the village with the church on Monday.

Buy a gift box- today
Find a gift that I put in my wardrobe in March, wrap said gift.
Think about Christmas now that our heating is fixed and I can actually think and plan -yay.

Clean the house, except for the sitting room. Decorate including the tree, and making a wreath. Wrap about 10 presents. Make something for a party on Monday. Arrange to see the family members who aren’t coming here. Figure out how to seat 12 for lunch on the day. Buy batteries and a pineapple. Looks quite a neat little list, feel less overwhelmed now. Thanks for the thread.

I'm off work at the moment so in theory I should be well ahead, but because of illness/treatment I'm annoying less organised than usual.

• Put tree and decorations up.
• Final Clean/tidy house
• Catch up with the washing & drying
• Change bed/make space in the wardrobe before DP comes to stay.
• Deep clean and organise fridge and freezer
• marzipan & Ice Christmas cake
• make mince pies
• Roast nuts
• Make & decorate biscuits - optional
• Make Christmas morning muffins
• Finalise food order by Wednesday night which necessitates writing a list of roughly what we're having and when.
• Go to M&S food hall for some bits
• Go to the Cheese shop
• Collect a present from elderly relative

I think that's about it up to Christmas Eve.

The tree and decorations and hopefully most of the baking will be done tomorrow. M&S early Monday, cheese shop and elderly relative visit maybe Tuesday.

Find one last box of presents for DC that I hid about 6 weeks ago and I'd forgotten about till about 2 hours ago. Wrap them. Try not to loose them again.

Sort out recipes and write shopping list.

Do the food shopping

Clean house

I need to take work presents in for my team and also drop off childminder present - both on Monday.
All presents are bought and wrapped but DH needs to wrap mine.
All food shopping ordered and being delivered on the 23rd. I need to have a good fridge/freezer/cupboard clear out and organise which I will probably do tomorrow morning.
Turkey ordered so I need to collect that on the 21st.
We'll do some baking/cooking on the 23rd and bring all the gifts downstairs after the kids are in bed on Christmas Eve.
I'm feeling very ready and prepared and super excited!!

A few presents left to wrap - last one arrived today but exchange not happening till 30th.
Double check shopping list and amend food order
Get fresh things & anything that was OOS/bad sub in the order from store
Bake cookies for Father Christmas
Pack the car up and drive hours to family to have 2 consecutive days of Christmas where we are doing some of the catering on day 1 and all of the catering on day 2.

Cry from the sheer stress and exhaustion will likely happen more than once between now and Boxing day at any given moment

Wrap a couple of presents. Make up the stockings and that’s it.

Wrap DH's presents
Wrap a few more family presents
Wrap the whole of my mums haul for my younger siblings (she works full time and is chronically ill so I've offered tbf)
Clean my house
Buy last few bits of food for hosting Boxing Day at my house
Buy ingredients to bake cookies/cakes on Christmas Eve with DC
Buy teacher gifts

I'll do almost all of this on Wednesday when I've been blessed with a child free day and DH is home to help!!

Card and present for tutor, neighbors, one freind needs gift.

Finish cleaning house and put decorations up!!

Start to wrap

I love a list!

Only us here for Christmas this year so a lot less to do. Haven’t bought that much for the DC as struggling for ideas and want to reduce crap in the house but that stops me buying little bits I might have in previous years.

Final food shop (may leave to DH as he’s the chef)

check what I’ve got for each DC and make sure it’s fair-ish

wrap presents x 3 DC (have started DD)

wrap DH presents

try and tidy up downstairs a bit, especially clearing the kitchen for cooking

put up or away lingering decorations & lights that are annoying me now

one more Christmas party (me this evening), one more Christmas meal (DC x 2 with scouts) + thank you wine for leaders

pop into work Christmas party (work in a care home)

probably other stuff I haven’t thought of yet

Last present just arrived today! Have to wrap that and then I'm done! Food was ordered back in October (no delivery slots left close enough to Christmas so collecting). All my cards have been sent (will they get there? Who can tell). Oh and I have to order something off of Amazon USA for my niece, but have been holding off until closer to the day as my sister is currently abroad. Oh gosh have to still send a package to my step-grandchild, who I realised last night they've already gone to visit grandparents so have to readdress it.

Have ordered last few presents today, so will need to pop out to collect one lot at some point next week.
Wrap everything; may well start that tonight. I've ordered specific stocking wrapping paper that isn't here yet though, so will need to leave those for now.
Take dog to groomers
Go to dentist
Get facial
Clean house (not awful at all due to weekly cleaner, but said cleaner is off for two weeks so we need to do it until new year).
Get cards for DM and MIL.
Buy gift vouchers for DC stockings. (Tradition, but always the last thing bought as we can get on the day before if necessary).
Watch Christmas films.
Write 3000 word essay
Order beer and flowers for DM and DSF

Daughter's birthday on 22nd so going over to see her and also leave bag of presents for her as she spends Christmas with her dad and his family. Then just fresh stuff left to buy. Fairly organised this year.