As summer draws ever closer, it's hard to believe that Christmas Eve is seven months from today!

If you follow this countdown faithfully, you should have a peaceful, low-stress  December so that you can actually enjoy the holidays. Ideally, by Christmas Eve, you'll spend the day playing in the snow before coming inside to watch a Christmas movie while drinking hot cocoa and eating Christmas cookies.

This month, we'll keep doing our basic tasks:

• As you travel on summer vacation, keep your eyes open for unique, local gifts. I've found wonderful things in tiny boutique, museum gift shops, and craft fairs.
• People tend to move and to get married during the summer. Update your Christmas card list as you receive word of new addresses or names. That way, you won't be trying to update your list while you address cards.
• Keep saving to fund your holiday budget.

But this month, I want to suggest a new task: Take some time (perhaps while lying on a beach) to imagine your perfect holiday. What makes it perfect? The food? The presents? The decorations? The people? Make a list of all the holiday elements that bring you joy. Then rank them from the things that bring you the most joy to the things that bring the least. You can have each person in the household do a list independently and then create one for the group.

This list will help you in a few ways:

1. You will be clear on what your ideal holiday is like. It's good to get that clear in your mind before you start seeing all the ads and movies.
2. You will know where to put your energy and your budget. If food matters but decorations don't, maybe you buy a door wreath at the grocery store, call it done, and spend the rest of your time and money on food.
3. When things get crazy as Christmas gets close, you'll know what to let go.

So that's your assignment this month: imagine.