A Chic Paris Holiday Season – Day 11 – Sunday Progress Report #2

 December 13, 2020

 This is the second weekend of Holiday Season 2020. The first weekend was a tumultuous Saturday “delayed Thanksgiving” (both happy and stressful). The Sunday of that first weekend was very quiet but full of reflection on how to better maximize the fun and minimize the chaos. This second Sunday, I can see some improvement in my own feeling of calm and order. I have the “Master Schedule” posted. (My husband has taken to calling it “The One Schedule to Rule Them All”.) 

With regards to ensuring that we actually do fun Christmas activities, the whole family (plus a visiting friend) enjoyed watching Christmas movies both Friday and Saturday nights: A Christmas Story and We’re No Angels. I tried to find a way to watch Phinneas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas on-line but I don’t think that it’s possible. I may fall back to Season 9, Episode 1 (“For Your Ice Only/Happy New Year.”) One thing that is different about living in another country is that not all movies and shows from one’s home country are available in the new country.  I’ve also learned that American formattd DVD’s do not work in French DVD players!

Today, I made a very large batch of Keto French Onion Soup as an investment cooking project. (It’s a bit blander than Julia Child’s original recipe which pours on the cognac and white wine (I’ve made her original recipe and it is divine.) My Keto version of Julia’s recipe uses duxelles to add a bit of richness, an alternative sweetener to mimic the sugars from the wines, and a bit of xantham gum in place of flour to help thicken the stock.) My daughter plans to help me with the a creamy chicken stew tomorrow and my husband and son have scheduled Tuesday as the day of Borscht. That puts 3  different soups in the freezer line-up as well as giving us quick hot meals at least once a week for the Holiday Season. We already have a good supply of meaty spaghetti sauce in the freezer. Knowck wood, I think we might have enough soup in the freezer to see us into January! (January in Paris is very cold and very grey. The grey overcast skies seem to flow seemlessly into the grey and cream stone buildings and down into the grey slush on the sidewalks. Absolutely perfect weather for a hot, hearty soup and fresh baguette!)

This morning, I did some on-line paperwork relating to medical insurance selection and verified that automated payments were indeed authorized and scheduled. It would be nice if this task could be moved to another month – I just waited until close to the December deadline this year to do the actual fingers-to-the-keyboard work. Since I think Fiona’s advice to “Declutter the December To-Do List” can help make the season feel less stressful, I have made a reminder on my calendar for 2021 to complete all insurance paperwork and verification by mid-November.

Another adminstrative task I did this morning was to look over my bank account on-line. My daughter has the credit card with her to use if she finds good Christmas stockings. I noticed some Starbucks purchases yesterday. Note to self: make her read The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.  Once I read the book (recommended by several of my favorite authors including Fiona,) I switched from buying Starbucks latte’s to buying Starbuck’s stock. (When I followed Bach’s suggestion and kept a “spending diary” for about two weeks, I found that the “spending diary” almost equaled a “food diary.” Suddenly I saw in black and white where much of my money was going to and where all those calories were coming from!)

It may feel like a downer to look at expenditures during the holiday season.  Certainly, this time of year seems to have more money flowing out than other times of the year. However, if I want to have a lovely holiday season ten years from now (which I do,) then it makes sense to keep an eye on the family holiday outflow this year.  (Fiona has a terrific book titled, Financially Chic: Live a Luxurious Life On a Budget, Learn to Love Managing Money and Grow Your Wealth.)

Now, I’m going to put on my coat and scarf (it’s another chilly day here in Paris – about 45 F/5 C) and go for a walk to admire the very pretty window displays of a few of my favorite ritzy stores. (Luckily, the stores are closed on Sundays so I can enjoy all the pretty things without any temptation to bring any of them home with me.) I wish everyone a relaxed and cozy afternoon!