It’s been a few days since I decided to try to elevate my Christmas spirit for the year.  In that time, I’ve done a few things to try to not only raise my spirits, but also to spread a little holiday cheer to those around me.

On Saturday, my wife and I planned a night-in.  She had been out for most of the day doing a craft fair run with her mom, aunt and cousin.  When she got home, we put on our PJ’s, ordered some take-out from Swiss Chalet (Festive meals!) and watched some Christmas movies.  We decided to start non-traditionally.  First up was Office Christmas Party, followed by The Night Before.  Lots of laughs and a good dose of Christmas spirit.

Another item that I took on was to make a Christmas CD for the members of my team.  I had done this a few times previously, but it had been three years since I had last took the time to do so.  Rather than make a CD for all 19 people, I decided to see how many would be interested in receiving one.  13 of the 19 wanted a copy, so off I went to make a nice mix.  Being the slightly OCD person that I am (sometimes…), I had to make sure that I wasn’t using the same songs on the CD as I had with the one I gave them 3 years ago.  Even though when I last made it, my team consisted of 8 people, so the majority had not gotten one.  I made myself a playlist with all of the songs I wanted to use, which ended up being about three times too long for a CD, and then proceeded o slowly whittle it down.  Finally, the track listing was complete!  Next up – make a CD cover.  This time, I opted to print it on card stock rather than buy CD cases.  Finally, cut and assemble the cases, and voilà – Christmas album.

On Monday evening, Walt Disney World was live streaming their “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” holiday projection show from Hollywood Studios.  Isabelle and I plopped down onto the couch in the living room and fired up the stream.  It was a dazzling spectacle – one that I would love to see in person someday.  And I will!  You can watch the recording of the stream on YouTube.  Disney always finds a way to spread their magic, and it most certainly helped to increase my Christmas spirit.

Although we’ve decorated the exterior of our home, we haven’t really done the inside yet.  That will be this week.  I have a few other ideas in mind, not to mention a pile of Christmas TV specials and movies that I hope to watch.  This is a good first kick at the can to boost my mood.  I’ll post a few more updates between now and the big day to track my momentum.  But as far as today goes, I think it’s safe to say that I’m at a solid level of Christmas spiritness!