Halloween has barely vanished with its ghost and goblins, Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, and holiday decorations are already appearing in full force. Storefronts are being painted with mistletoe and holly, red and green are becoming the dominant colors and toy commercials are starting to bombard the television.

I'm not trying to sound like a scrooge, but with 6 ¹/2 weeks to go, it's difficult to start thinking about good cheer. And this year Christmas and Hanukah, which I celebrate, are close together. The first night of Hanukah falls on Dec. 19, so gearing up for candle lighting and latkes— potato pancakes—still feels a ways off.

But with the holidays blowing in, I found myself rereading a story we ran in the Willow Glen Resident a couple of weeks ago on a workshop designed to simplify the season. The workshop was based on the book Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson and Jean Staeheli. After reading the article, I didn't think it mattered what holiday a person celebrated to appreciate the concept. The message was universal—try and keep it all in check, not letting commercialism and the push toward "more is better" overtake the meaning. I don't think anyone would argue over the appeal of "less is more." The trick, however, is to find a way to avoid being sucked into the "more" aspect as the season gets closer.

So I figure with a good month and a half to go I can get a jump-start on prioritizing what's important in an effort to simplify the holidays. This is my opportunity for taking time to reflect on how I can keep this part of the year stress free.

Probably the best place to begin the process of simplification is by writing out a to-do list and then, the critical part, sticking to it. It's the adding on that gets me into trouble. But if I just discipline myself to stay the course, or in this case what's on the paper, I bet I can cut my stress level down by half.

And what would be on that list? Well, of course, there are the presents to buy for my family, close friends and co-workers. So I would write down everyone's name and a gift idea. Of course, in the case of my children, there is an attached list, because I have yet to find a way where one gift will suffice. And because many of my friends and family live everywhere but near me, I have to send it all via the post, requiring another list for addresses. Then there is the shopping list, which includes the once-a-year grocery items for the special meals. And knowing that somewhere during the holiday season I have to allocate time to cook and bake all these goodies— which always includes special dessert requests from my family—I might just need another list that includes a cooking timeline.

Naturally, I need to write down " take out all the decorations," which are essential to creating the festive feel. But a Menorah is simple: Polish it and add a candle every night for eight days.

Now, included somewhere on the list should also be personal "me time" and hopefully some one-on-one time with my husband. And all this is to be accomplished in between work, school activities and other special holiday-related functions. Plus, this year my daughter is going in for foot surgery the day before Hanukah. OK, that means we need an entire other list with information pertaining to the post-op care. She will be in a cast for 4 to 6 weeks.

Now that I think about it, maybe the first thing I'd better do is eliminate some of these lists. I probably need to get that sorted out right away, and luckily I have about 6 ¹/2 weeks to work on it. Otherwise it's going to be another crazy holiday season.

Moryt Milo is the editor of The Willow Glen Resident. She can be contacted at 400.200.1051 or mmilo@svcn.com.