We all get busy this time of year, whether it’s busy having fun here and there, or, if you work for the paper, running around covering the fun, which can also be fun. Sprinkle with early press dates depending when the holidays fall, and winter’s return impacting shopping days and more, and you have the holiday hustle. 

Enjoy the best parts and deal with the worst by using a four-letter word: Plan.

This week’s storm came with warnings and was a warning. Get your winter on: Have the flashlights and sand ready for each storm and, if the power company ever again projects power will be restored decades from now, laugh it off. It’s about all you can do.

As for the shopping, planning there can pay off, too. Keep watching this paper for the sales. And whether you count the gift gathering days on a wall calendar or your phone, build in a cushion for snow, ice and whatever else can get between you and shopping success.

Venture to a store’s self checkout aisle. I learned. You can, too. Over time, you are saving hours of your life to spend doing anything but waiting in line. Might I recommend wishing really hard for Rob Gronkowski to return to the Patriots’ lineup? You can also do this if you stick with the manned checkout line. You will have plenty of time.

Week’s positive parting thought: Do the Christmas that works for you. Fake tree, real, or none; high-end presents or homemade; gift cards or just cards; the holiday classics in music and movies, or a reindeer rap; church-going or star-gazing, it’s your and your family’s holiday season. Make it beautifully yours.