Finish off 2010

The new year is here.  We are 3 days in and well, whether we're ready to move forward or not, 2010 is gone.  But is it gone from your to-do list?

Let's choose this week to wrap up the winter holidays so we can really move on to our future in this new year.

Shop
Finish buying the stuff off your Replenishment List that you need for next year.  You can still find a few decent sales on after-Christmas things.  Stock up now.

Update
Gather up all those envelopes from the cards you received and update your address book.  Don't worry about making it perfect.  For now, just scratch out the old info and add the corrections.

Budget
Review your Christmas spending.  Was it in line with your budget? 
If there are categories you spent more than you planned was that because your original budget wasn't realistic?  Do you need to add a category for next year?)

Plan
Make a note on your holiday card list of anyone you want to add or remove.  Maybe you made a new friend this year.  Or maybe there are people still on the list since your wedding many moons ago that you really don't have contact with anymore.

Remember
Review what you cooked and ate for your holiday meals & parties.  If you had a written menu, make notes of what worked & what did not.  Some items may become part of your annual tradition and some recipes need to hit the "round file." 

Commemorate
Do something with the holiday cards you received.  If you plan to scrapbook them - put them with your scrapbooking supplies.  If you plan to make To/From labels for next year's gifts then put them with your crafting supplies.  What do I do with them.... anything with a picture of people gets put into an inexpensive photo album for my kids.  They love looking at pictures of people and asking me who they are.  I add the new cards to it every year.
Or you might just enjoy them and then recycle them.

Clean (make sure you do this task AFTER you finish the shopping task)
Put away all the lingering decorations.  You may have already taken down the big stuff but if your house is like mine there is always about a small boxful of miscellaneous stuff that was missed the first time around.  Pack it away, make sure the box says clearly that it's holiday things and put it away with the rest of the holiday boxes.

Start Fresh
Upload all the photos from your camera to your computer.  Back them up.  Then clear your memory card.  Make room for lots of new photos in 2011!