House & Holidays Plan Week 15: Final Clean Week

Two weeks before Christmas? It's time for a final finish cleaning at the House and Holidays Plan. 

Over the past weeks, we've decluttered and deep-cleaned; this week's goal is to bring the whole house into a ready state for the remainder of the season. A "final clean" week will put a surface shine on our home!

In holiday prep, we'll finish gift shopping, complete gift wrapping, plan Christmas dinner, mail Christmas cards and bring home the ultimate seasonal symbol: the Christmas tree. Celebration ahead!

This Week's Focus: Final Clean

One last push toward a clean home is our household focus on this busy week. We'll be busy completing gift shopping, mailing Christmas cards and finishing holiday decorating.

This Week's Household Checklist

• Do a final pre-holiday whole-house clean. Sure, we've tackled household areas week-by-week and the deep-cleaning is done--but this week, it's time to polish up our work with a final whole-house clean. Play cleaning service this week, and give every room a top-clean session of dusting, vacuuming and final touch-up. You'll bring the entire house to a holiday-ready state. Time to celebrate!

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist

• Wrap party! Hold an informal "wrap party" brunch or evening for friends. Work on wrapping packages together. At the end of the party, swap leftover supplies for a fresh look next year.
• Eat from the freezer. Use stockpiled freezer meals on busy nights. 
• Plan Christmas menus. Make a simple menu plan for Christmas week. Delegation is easier if you have an idea of what's for breakfast ... or lunch, or dinner.
• Update address book. As holiday letters and Christmas cards arrive, update the address book with any changes.
• Mail Christmas cards or holiday letters. 
• Complete gift wrapping.
• Buy Christmas trees and/or fresh greens. 
• Check cameras and camcorders  Be ready to capture the moment.  Will you need to buy film, batteries, cassettes or storage media?  Add any needed items to the shopping list.
• Make an under-tree "emergency box".  Use a gift-wrapped box with removable lid.  Placed under the tree, it holds extra bulbs, fuses, ornament hooks and batteries.