WEBVTT - Make your holiday fun list

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to make your Holiday fun list. By figuring

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<v Speaker 1>out what you want to do during this upcoming festive

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<v Speaker 1>season and figuring out when you can do these things,

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<v Speaker 1>you increase the chances that you truly enjoy yourself and

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<v Speaker 1>make the kind of memories that you want to have.

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<v Speaker 1>So every year, around this time, I make what I

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<v Speaker 1>call a holiday fund list. This is a list of

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<v Speaker 1>all the celebratory things I want to do for the holidays.

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<v Speaker 1>I celebrate Christmas, but whatever you celebrate, it tends to

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<v Speaker 1>be a festive time of year. It also tends to

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<v Speaker 1>be a busy time of year, and there may be

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<v Speaker 1>more options for shows, light displays, and so forth. Then

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<v Speaker 1>we can space available to put these things. I used

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<v Speaker 1>to just make a list of the things I wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to do, like go see Longwood gardens, see some holiday trains,

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<v Speaker 1>go to the Nutcracker, have my kids be in the

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<v Speaker 1>church Christmas pageant. Then a few years ago I realized

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<v Speaker 1>that with everyone's schedules, I needed to figure out exactly

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<v Speaker 1>when we could do these things, probably by mid November.

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<v Speaker 1>If I didn't figure out which weekend in November or

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<v Speaker 1>December we'd go see illuminature at the Philadelphia Zoo and

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<v Speaker 1>which weekend we'd go to Dutch Wonderland, we would probably

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<v Speaker 1>run out of time. So this year I asked my

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<v Speaker 1>kids and husband what everyone wanted to do, and then

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<v Speaker 1>I plotted out the weekends of late November, December, and

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<v Speaker 1>early January. Yes, it turns out that some displays are

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<v Speaker 1>still up in January. Longwood Gardens and the New York

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<v Speaker 1>Botanical Garden, for instance, both have their holiday displays open

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<v Speaker 1>until January eleventh of this year, for instance. That buys

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<v Speaker 1>you a little more time. We are aiming to do

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<v Speaker 1>things that don't require strict scheduling as well, think holiday baking,

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<v Speaker 1>holiday lego building, getting matching Christmas pajamas. Still, it helps

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<v Speaker 1>to know roughly when those things will happen. I am

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<v Speaker 1>targeting a particular Sunday in December for baking. That way

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<v Speaker 1>I can look forward to it. I know everyone has

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<v Speaker 1>different levels of holiday ambitions or comfort with full schedules.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no need to pack things in just to do so.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you are like me, January and February tend

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<v Speaker 1>to be a bit ho hum. It's okay to be

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<v Speaker 1>a bit busier in December when there are more things

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<v Speaker 1>to do. I also think it would be a bit

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<v Speaker 1>sad come January to look back and think, well, it

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<v Speaker 1>would have been fun to have a baking day with friends.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you are listening to this episode when it

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<v Speaker 1>is first running in mid November, take some time today

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<v Speaker 1>to list out what you would like to experience this

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<v Speaker 1>holiday season. Who would you like to see, what would

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<v Speaker 1>you like to do? Where would you like to go?

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<v Speaker 1>Make your list and then share it with the friends

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<v Speaker 1>and family you would likely be spending time with. What

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<v Speaker 1>would they add? Then get out your calendar and start

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the time available. For most people, most things

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<v Speaker 1>are going to have to happen on the weekends. There's

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving weekend and then three weekends in December before Christmas.

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<v Speaker 1>That might not sound like a lot, but fortunately a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of holiday things don't end right on the twenty fifth.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a December weekend after Christmas, and of course early January.

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<v Speaker 1>There might be time in there to hit up a

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<v Speaker 1>light display or get together with friends for a festive meal,

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<v Speaker 1>but all of those are more likely to happen if

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<v Speaker 1>you think about them ahead of time and get them

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<v Speaker 1>on the calendar now. To be sure, I don't recommend

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<v Speaker 1>planning experiences for every second. Santa will need time in

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<v Speaker 1>the workshop, and if you likewise have holiday work you'll

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<v Speaker 1>need to do like shopping and food prep, then you

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<v Speaker 1>need to build that in. Plus things will come up.

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<v Speaker 1>It's nice to have space to get together with people

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<v Speaker 1>if they suggest it. The good news is that when

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<v Speaker 1>we are intentional with our time, I promise that there

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<v Speaker 1>is usually space during the holiday season for they have

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<v Speaker 1>to dos alongside the want to dos. And if people

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<v Speaker 1>do want to do things last minute, well now you

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<v Speaker 1>know what time is available to steer them towards instead

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<v Speaker 1>of just saying no because you feel overwhelmed. I know

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<v Speaker 1>I am excited about all of it, so I hope

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<v Speaker 1>you will make your holiday fun list with me. We

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<v Speaker 1>will all enjoy this season and make the kind of

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<v Speaker 1>memories we will be thinking about well into the new year.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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