It never ceases to amaze me as to how behind I get on holiday responsibilities when I've known, for months, that Easter is just around the corner. Yet here I am, trying to figure out how I can work grocery shopping and cooking and Easter Bunny apprentice duties into a schedule of work, family and home responsibilities that simply won't give. One excuse I'll give, though it's a weak one, is the date for the holiday. For some reason, I keep thinking it's April 15 this year. WRONG! It's Sunday, two days away. But I can't fall back on that every year ... and this happens ... EVERY YEAR!

I can't for the life of me figure out why I don't pick up those Easter cards, plan the menus and fill those baskets early on -- you know, when you're walking through the supermarket and say to yourself, "I can't believe they've already got Easter stuff on the shelves!'' But that's precisely when I should get by rear in gear. And the reason I was out looking through what's left of the Easter cards last night and raising heaven and earth to find the candy my daughter loves best. I felt a bit better when I saw another mom, breathless, run into the store and grab anything Easter she could find on the shelves. "Easter is Sunday!'' she announced to the store. When did that happen?

Well, it happend while we were at our jobs, doing the grocery shopping, cleaning up the kitchen, sewing the button on a shirt, chauffeuring kids to soccer and dance and Scouts, picking up the dry cleaning, feeding the dog, paying the bills, fixing the bathroom door that came unhinged and working hard to be sure we didn't follow suit.

Moms, take time to reflect on the season this weekend, and to be kind and gentle with yourselves. You deserve it. Happy Easter!

I've not yet reconciled my love for the holidays, in particular decorating the Christmas tree, with my absolute aversion to taking down that very same Christmas tree. I hate it. Hate it! But last night, after a few days of watching the tree limbs turn ever-downward and one after the other of the ornaments slide to the floor from their drying perches, I knew there was no more procrastinating.

My daughter was summoned to the living room and we began, first the ornaments, then the lights, then the taking the tree from the stand filled with scores of needles floating in brown water.

In the process, we broke a few ornaments and found others in a box that never even made it to the tree this year. How did that happen? It only took a few hours to get the tree outside and the ornaments boxed. But I've still got plenty of "Christmas''-marked cartons in the living room. The lights have yet to be properly strung into neat -- OK, semineat -- strands that won't complicate the tree trimming for Christmas 2012.

I suppose my reluctance to taking down the tree is the work it entails -- and the fact that I'm really not ready. It was a good holiday, but I wanted just a little more time to relax and enjoy the surroundings. And there wasn't much of that this year. Too much hurry up, celebrate and get back to normal.

That's why the window swags, Christmas wreath and red-and-white lights outside might just stay up for a while longer. They'll look great for Valentine's Day! 

The holidays make it really tough to get everything done that we'd like to do. As a result, the time to post on this blog has been hard to come by in recent weeks.

I hope 2012 will bring a bit more stamina, and more of a presence  here. Yet as tired as I am -- and I know you're probably feeling much the same way --I'm not too weary to wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!!

I hope you'll have the luxury tonight of marking a new beginning with the people you love!

My best to you and your families. Happy New Year!

It's actually 13, and that statistic is a whopping 5 years old!! It's probably far beyond the two-week point by now.

The figure was reported in MailOnline, which cited a survey of 3,000 women in Great Britain that was conducted by the mail order catalog Kaleidoscope.

It also noted: moms, or mums as they say across the pond, spent 288 hours shopping, 4.19 hours wrapping presents, 3.03 hours decorating the house, 4.27 hours preparing the big Christmas Day meal and 4.38 hours cooking it. Eighty-four percent said they would cook the food, as well as serve it. If they were lucky, the meal lasted just over two hours. Because when it was over, they were likely to do the tidying up which, the survey noted, took 11 hours. Sixty-five percent said the holidays are stressful -- hmmmm, wonder why? One in five said they hate the season. Yet most, 70 percent, say all the planning and work is worth it in the end.

A few more statistics: just under a third of these mums said they start planning for Christmas in September so they can get everything done and 46 percent buy items in January to get a jump on the next holiday season. Just writing this is wearing me out!

I'm sitting here, finally getting back to this blog, and basking in the knowledge that I've done an excellent job of handling the hectic holiday pace this season -- if I do say so myself, and I do!! I am also basking in the glow of a pink Christmas tree -- so pink that it would make an army of Barbie dolls turn and run back into their dream houses.

We weren't actually thinking pink when it came time to pull out all of the Christmas ornaments this year. We've had white lights on our tree, and for many years just strings of multicolors. This year, however, my daughter wanted purple lights. Not purple and white. Or purple and blue. Just plain purple. So, I thought what the heck, we'll do it. Purple is her favorite color, and mine.

But something happened as we were putting that final strand of lights on the tree Sunday night. I was blinded by the pink. I mean, this tree looked like six feet of evergreenesque cotton candy. I'm trying to like it. Really I am. But,well, to be honest, I'm longing for those white lights.

The good news is that my daughter loves it, and her friends think it's awesome that our tree is filled with purple-that-look-more-like-pink lights!!

And more good news: The lights are working, the dog is keeping her distance and the tree is still upright!

Mark your calendars now. Trick or treating in Lancaster County will be 6-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31. You've got more than two months to pull those costumes together!!

If you've got pictures of costumes you've created, please share them with other LancMoms parents. And it would be great if you'd include directions.

Hot costume picks for Halloween 2011 are expected to be inspired by summer movies: Captain America, boy and girl Smurf costumes, Harry Potter and Lightning McQueen from "Cars 2.''

Of course, the tried-and-true ghosts, witches, gypsies and goblins are always good standbys.

Below is a do-it-yourself costume idea from parenting.com.

Meatballs and Spaghetti

Cut a hole for the head in the center of a red-checkered tablecloth (or 1.25 yards of 45-inch-wide red-checkered fabric) so that it can be worn like a poncho.

Cut 1/2 skein off-white yarn into spaghetti-length pieces. With a hot-glue gun, glue them in swirls and bunches to a large, sturdy paper plate.

Paint 8 small Styrofoam balls with brown acrylic paint to resemble meatballs. Let dry, then glue 4 or 5 balls to top of spaghetti. Mix brown and red acrylic paint to make a tomato-sauce color; drip that over meatballs and spaghettiSmear a little on the side of a small pot.

Glue the plate to the front of the tablecloth.

Glue remaining meatballs to tablecloth where you like.

Glue some strands of yarn to pot "hat." Tie under chin if needed to keep pot on head.