Now I don't claim to be an expert at organization (although I can be seriously anal at times, which anyone who knows me could attest to :) That said though, I'm getting up there in years so I've got a lot of holiday season experience now. I suppose that qualifies me as much as anything to offer up some simple suggestions on how to make this holiday a little less stressful.

1. Ask for Help I often wondered in the earlier years of my marriage, when our kids were little, what it must be like to be my husband and wake up Christmas morning to find everything "done". For years, I just did it all and we all know how much work is involved in "it all"!

It took me many years before it even occurred to me to ask my husband for help. And you know what? When I did, he was happy to help and I'm sure, in the end, it made him feel much more a part of the holiday. So, if you haven't done it yet, make that list ... and delegate!

2. Shop Online Even in the last few weeks before Christmas, you can still order online and get your stuff in time for the holidays. If your list is anything like mine, you have a lot of books, CDs and DVDs on there. Online shops like Amazon have a great selection, ship for free (mostly) and ship in stock items within a couple of days. And there is no doubt that shopping while sitting in the Lazy Boy with your laptop and a cup of hot chocolate beats circling the mall parking lot looking for a parking space any day!

3. Make a pre-holiday Spreadsheet Ok, my anal tendencies might be showing here, but every year for the past few years, I have made a pre-holiday Excel spreadsheet. I start it on December 1 and it has two parts - a list of people I need to buy gifts for and a basic calendar, made by listing the dates from December 1 through 25.

For the gift list, I use one column for the names and a second column for the gifts I've bought or plan to buy for that person. Once a gift is bought, I just highlight the cell in yellow. That way I can easily see what gifts I still have to buy (all the ones that aren't yellow). Of course, you can reverse it and highlight everything and un-highlight it as you buy it or just use any other formatting options that work for you. The idea is that you can see what's bought and what is yet to buy.

The other benefit of this method is that I can keep track of what I've bought for whom. In past years I've just picked up things willy nilly and stashed them away, only to find when I went to wrap that I had a lot more for one child than another or nothing for someone who I wanted to buy for, prompting a frantic, last minute shopping excursion at the busiest time. Keeping a list helps me to keep things balanced that way and of course, it makes sure I don't forget anyone I had planned to pick up something for. It also allows me to take buying tasks easily in to my calendar list.

For the calendar list, I enter the dates from December 1 through December 25 in one column and in the next column, I type in tasks I need to (or would like to) get done. I use cell highlighting to block out dates when I have special events or when I know I will be too busy to do any tasks at all, so I don't assign myself anything then.

I try to do tasks as planned but if they don't happen, I simply cut and paste the task to a future date. If I have a number of tasks, I can highlight them and print them to take with me, too. I try to refer to my shopping list as well, so that I can slot in things that I want to buy when I know I'm going to be in a particular store (or near it) so I'm not "running all over the place".

When I get the tasks done, they disappear from the spreadsheet, so I'm only left looking at the things I need to get done.

4. Shop Late (or Early) I live in a pretty small town (15,000 people) but I know our Walmart and Grocery stores are open 24 hours in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Shopping later in the evening (between 9 p.m. and midnight) or very early (between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.) means you will not only benefit from far fewer people in the stores and shorter check-outs, but are more likely to be able to slip out easily without the kids (if DH is home to mind them.)

5. Stock Your Freezer If you can take a day on a weekend leading up to the holidays (or an evening), prepare some things to throw in the freezer - appetizers, casseroles etc. If you don't like to cook or know you won't have time, buy some things to have on hand. As things get hectic, you'll be glad you did!

6. Spread Things Out to Reduce the Stress Now I have never been one of those people who start Christmas shopping in September or October (not that there's anything wrong with that ;) I am and probably always will be a last month before Christmas shopper and planner. That said though, I've learned that, even with only a month to work with, I can spread things out so I never feel stressed or burnt out from binge shopping. A little time invested at the start in planning and list making, no matter how late you've left it, means you can break up the tasks in to bite-sized pieces that can be handled one or two a day.

7. Schedule a Lunch or Dinner Outing with Friends Life in general is busy and the holidays only make it more so. We spend time at events with people that we probably wouldn't necessarily choose to spend time with while at the same time, there are good friends and old friends that we haven't had a chance to catch up with as often as we would have liked. Make a date with your girlfriends (or guy friends or old friends) and meet up for a really great lunch or dinner out. It's a great stress-reliever not to mention great investment in yourself and your friendships.

Above all, remember what's important during the holiday season. The moments you will remember will be the laughs or stories over the appetizers, not the appetizers. If the time invested in shopping and making appetizers or anything else is going to stress you out, give yourself permission to just buy them or skip them. Know your limits, adjust accordingly and enjoy the season more!