It's Thursday, though it feels like it ought to be Friday.

Still, the end of the week is nearly here. Saturday, Penny and I have an appointment to get our hair cut. (And Alex, too, though he'll come in separately, with Matt, so he's not running around getting into things while I'm getting my hair cut.) And I'll make the cupcakes for my birthday party Sunday.

Sunday, I'll make the frozen mousse dessert for my actual birthday, and then we'll go down to my parents' for my birthday party.

Monday is my birthday. I'm going to try to take it off from work, depending on what the delivery schedule is.

Tuesday will be a regular work day, and then Wednesday I'm going to the parent-teacher conference with Penny's teacher. (Matt and I would both go, except both kids' schools are closed, so he's staying home to keep an eye on Alex. If Alex was at daycare, he could just bring Penny in and let her play while we talked with the teacher, but Alex needs a little more supervision.)

And then next Thursday, Penny and I will be boarding a plane to go to Atlanta, whoo! I'm looking forward to this trip so much, it's a little weird.

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I started my Christmas planning spreadsheet yesterday. I think it's in pretty good shape for having just gotten started -- I've already got ideas for most of the people who usually give me trouble, which is nice.  And I've started putting together the photo calendars that I suspect are going to be our traditional gifts to certain family members, at least until the kids stop being so danged cute.  I'll probably go ahead and order a bunch of the gifts as soon as I run the ideas past Matt.  No sense waiting, and that'll reduce the "OMG WILL IT SHIP IN TIME?" stress in December.

It feels a bit early to be planning, but when I look at the calendar and see everything that's coming, and everything we need to schedule (like the Moon Cookie party, and Matt wants to throw an honest-to-gosh Christmas party this year, and family events, and making sure I get some Christmas-y photos right after Thanksgiving for cards and the calendars, and...) then it's probably not too soon, after all.

I'm feeling good about the holidays this year. I want them to be magical and exciting. I want to have fun decorating the house, inside and out. I want the kids to have a fantastic time -- heck, I want everyone to have a fantastic time. Heck, I even volunteered to coordinate the office's holiday luncheon.

I haven't been this excited about Christmas in years. I don't know why -- too tired, too busy, too stressed? Whatever. I've missed this excitement, and now that it's back, I want it to stay.