Whew! Christmas is finally over.  Despite my best effort in destressing my Christmas preparation, it completely kicked my butt.  I was doing fine on Christmas Eve, which just consisted of visiting my family and even though it was late getting back, I still felt okay.  I think what put me over the top was hosting my girlfriend's family for Christmas dinner.  And you might ask, "Nick, did you have to cook and prepare all the food and stuff?" And the answer is no.  I didn't do much beyond picking up a few things from the living room.  Not really sure what my problem was.... maybe Christmas stuff is my kryptonite.  Regardless, I'm back in top form today, playing some video games and watching television... oh and updating my blog of course.  I hope everyone got what they wanted and gave somebody something they wanted as well.  The next big question is, do I host a New Year's Eve soiree?  

Christmas is nearly upon us and thinking about Christmases past, specifically how much they stressed me out.  The pressure of getting everyone what they want and shopping for the gift, which by the way, has got to be the worst part of the holiday season. It seems that everyone forgets their manners and straps their AK-47's on when out holiday shopping.  Since I'm a big fan of lists here on my blog, I thought I would share some of the things that have helped me destressify (definition: removing stress) Christmas. 

1. Save for the Holidays - Before the Holidays!  This may seem obvious, but in my experience very few people do this.  My recommended way of saving is to take a small amount of money out of my checking account every week and place into my Christmas savings account.  There are several ways of doing this, through your local bank as a Christmas Club account or my favorite way is a weekly deduction into a high interest savings account.  (Yes, I realize that now high interest is an oxy moron, but still.)
2. Reduce the size of your Christmas List  Again, this may seem obvious but people tend to buy people gifts for acquaintances or friends in general.   Let me make this easy, if you buy something for a friend there are only a few possible outcomes: you get them something they didn't want and they end up disappointed, you buy them something awesome and they get you something lame and you end up disappointed or lastly you get them something and they didn't get you anything and you end up disappointed.  Yes, yes I know its the thought that counts and all that jazz, but we are human beings after all.  So the best possible outcome is that someone gets disappointed.  Furthermore, you end up just swapping money with a friend anyways, so wouldn't it be better to just go out and have a holiday meal together where you can hang out and have fun?  The answer is yes.  Okay. Just in case you got it wrong.  So, personally what I like to do is to buy for my immediately family and my brother's family and if I'm involved with someone, they get a present as well.  (I'm not completely heartless.)  Its a good manageable size and its easy for me to save the money, see item 1, for my little group.
3. Gift Cars are your Friend  Okay, ladies, we're going to have a heart to heart here.  I know, you all hate buying a gift card for someone.  Its too "impersonal".  However, guess what?  Its quite the opposite.  So let me give you a little example here.  As I get older, which happens at an astonishing rate, the things I want, happen to be more expensive than I would want ANYONE to spend on me.  So one year, I asked everyone to buy me Best Buy gift cards.  This accomplished two goals, one, it helped destressify everyone who was buying for me and two, I was able to buy a Sirius satellite radio with all my collective gift cards, which was exactly what I wanted.  No returns required, no stress and everyone was happy.  So before you spend time trying to find that perfect sweater vest for your nephew/brother/boyfriend/man type person in your life, just give him a gift card, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.  Oh, and guys, if you are buying for a girl, buy them a gift card unless they have specifically requested something from you.  (Man Note:  If you have a girlfriend/wife/significant other this strategy will NOT work and will result in you being miserable well into the new year.  They will require you to work to buy them a gift that is meaningful and what not. Girls are uber-complicated.) (Woman Note: You shouldn't have read the Man Note.)
4. The Interweb to the Rescue!  Guess what?  Businesses sell stuff on the internet!  Wha...?!?!  Yes, its true.  And furthermore, I think it might be catching on.  (Note:  If you don't understand sarcasm, you will be relieved to hear that yes, I realize that there has been e-commerce on the internet for some time now.)  So before you spend weeks, searching the stores for that awesome thing that a store has continually just sold out of, look for it on the internet.  Yes, it may cost more, but it may also cost less depending on where you live.  I can hear you saying already, "Buy Nick, there are shipping charges and I refuse to pay for those."  However, there is no difference between you driving around a busy town all day, wasting gasoline that cost upwards for 3 dollars (here in Kentucky at least), when you can pay the 5 or 6 bucks for shipping to your house.  Furthermore, most places offer free shipping on items that are above a certain price range and places like Amazon.com even offer free two shipping for Prime members.  So, this year, er next year, stay at home and buy everyone on your list a nice gift on the internets.

Well, there it is.  My short list on how to destressify your life during the holidays.  Happy Holidays to you and yours.