I WILL . . .

I WILL . . . list the various shops, displays, or towns I want

to see before Christmas and make every effort to visit them.

It happens every year during the days following Thanksgiving. I make a list of places I want to see and shops I want to visit before Christmas. I love driving around looking at Christmas lights and seeing the store displays in one of my favorite towns takes me back to childhood days. Thinking about all those things puts me in the Christmas spirit, but . . .

Every year I also become mired in the hustle and bustle of decorating the house, planning meals and baking, shopping for family gifts, and helping with music for the church's Christmas Eve service. I enjoy most of those things but they take up so much time I begin to scratch items off my list of "want to do's".

This year I will make a list of places I want to go and displays I want to see and put some of those things first instead of setting them aside until (or unless) I have everything else done. My list is always the same since I've never totally fulfilled it. Here it is:

1) Visit Waynesville during the days shops are full of seasonal treasures

2) Drive around enjoying Christmas lights and displays - more than one night

3) Visit Lebanon, Oh. to browse antique shops and have lunch at the Golden Lamb

4) Travel to Washington Court House, Ohio and visit primitive shops

5) Visit Lancaster, Ohio and shop at the General Store

6) Attend local craft shows - I become so busy I often forget all about them

7) Visit the Morgan House gift shop and restaurant in Dublin, Ohio with Deanna

Those items shouldn't be so difficult to fulfill if I begin planning early enough. I know I have to want to do them in order to make them happen. I think I can...I think I can...