Tis the Season to be Frazzled.

Is it just me, or is the holiday season one big stress bomb once you graduate into adulthood?

The girls playing with their older cousin Christmas 2010.

Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love being home with my family. What I hate is fighting crowds just to get our usual groceries every blasted week; rushing about like a decapitated chicken trying to get dishes cooked for family potlucks and making sure everyone is dressed, groomed, and in the car on time to leave; and staying up way to late night after night, working furiously to finish homemade gifts or fill orders. (It was annoying at the time, but I'm grateful now that Hubby forbade me to make gifts this year!) Then there's the feeling of being stretched like taffy between all the different gatherings and, no matter what you do, knowing someone is going to end up being upset or angry with you. And, invariably, there's a horrendous cold that pounces on your run down system a few days after the adrenaline wears off and devastates you for weeks.

Were my parents amazing actors, or was I just completely clueless as a kid and teenager that I never noticed how much stress all this merriment and solid month of gatherings causes adults? Maybe I'm just way too type A for my own good. I don't know.

In any case, no matter what I happen to be doing in a given December, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. This year is no different, despite the moratorium on homemade gifts. I'm still trying to get the hang of juggling my day job, soaping, and running Contented Comfort.

You know, I took my first baby steps into marketing outside social media this week! I went on-air live for an hour Tuesday morning on Talk Radio for Entrepreneurs and set up some radio ads to run through the middle of the month. I'd hoped to have used the CD I was given of the radio segments with commercial breaks cut out to create a video podcast and have it posted by now, but I've yet to even take it out of my purse! I may get that done sometime next month, if I'm lucky. Right now, I'm too busy trying to keep up with orders coming in and restocking to do anything with much of my social media than I've already promised.

I haven't even knitted or crocheted at all this month, and I'm feeling it. Now that I've caught the bug, fiber arts have become my chief stress outlet, and I haven't had time in weeks. Time or not, somewhere in the few days I'm going to have off, I'm thinking we'll have to resurrect our tradition of having a Lord of the Rings marathon. I'll knit or crochet the whole time, or until my hands give out, which ever happens first.

As for the blog here, the Facebook pages, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumbler the next four to six weeks, I make no promises aside from the other two episodes of Sunday Sides & Suppers Holiday Specials will be uploaded the next two Sundays. The filming might be a bit odd. We've been filming in fits and spurts throughout the week, so I might as well use the footage.

I know I can't be the only one who feels like they're at the end of their rope each and every holiday season. Do any of you feel the same? What about tips for dealing?

Bueller?