Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away...and if you're like me, you're thinking about what you have to make for the family dinner, trips to visit relatives, a big shopping list for holiday gifts, shipping those holiday gifts in time, office holiday parties, trying *really* hard to stick to the pre-wedding diet with all that great food (and cookies!) around. Holiday stress on top of wedding stress? That's a recipe for disaster!

So here's my best advice for keeping your peace through the 'most wonderful time of the year': honor your family traditions, but ask for a 'pass' on some things. If it's your turn to host Thanksgiving at your place, can a sibling swap years with you since you have so much going on this year? Can you buy those side dishes ready-made instead of slaving over the stove for a day?

I'm taking a few shortcuts this year, to save my sanity. We're not hosting the family dinner at our place, as originally planned. I'm doing my holiday shopping now, so that I'm not stuck in stores with crazy shoppers and no parking a week before Christmas. I'm starting to write out my holiday cards now. Since the holiday rush hasn't yet started, it's actually fun to write out a half dozen cards every night, and you couldn't pay me to bake cookies this year.

I'm not being a Grinch...I'm just realistic. I only have so much energy to use, and the wedding takes up a % of it. So I've asked my family for a 'pass,' and everyone's fine with it. No guilt trips. 'Sharon has a wedding to plan' gives me some free space. So cash in on the pass for the extra-time-consuming tasks on your holiday schedule, but don't eliminate all the festivities! No sitting home from all the holiday parties. No passing up all the cookies. One or two can't hurt. ;)