By MARY CAROL GARRITY, Scripps Howard News Service

In the dead of winter, I enjoy looking at my sleeping garden, with the sunshine dancing off the ice-covered plants. I think this is because it's the only time of year I can take in the view without feeling a stab of guilt over my failure to keep my poor garden watered.

There is nothing more fun than a beautifully wrapped present. I grew up in a retail family, and during the busy holiday season, we all worked about a million hours helping customers find gifts and wrapping up their parcels. When it came time to doll up the packages under our own tree, not a one of us had any interest in going the extra mile.

Every time I look at the console table in my foyer, I'm visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. If you look closely, you can still see a hardened globule of pinesap that's cemented to this beautiful piece of furniture, an unhappy memento from the days I filled my home with fresh pine garlands during the holidays.

Start the countdown.In just a few days, the madcap and marvelous holiday season will be cranked up to full force. This year, as you pull out boxes filled with decorations to brighten all your winter celebrations, from Thanksgiving all the way through New Year's, I want to encourage you to sweat the small stuff.

There is a bit of Goldilocks in each of us.No, I don't mean we all sneak into our neighbors' homes, break their furniture and eat their food. I mean that we are on a constant quest to create home environments that are "just right."

I get exactly the same thing for Christmas every year. Even though this gift is not a surprise, I look forward to it with the same eager anticipation I had as a kid, counting down the days, wishing time would move faster. Just when I can't stand the wait any longer, in walks my gift: my sister, Judy, fresh off the plane from Detroit.

Years ago, when Dan and I were house shopping, one of the things that drew me to our historic fixer-upper was its unique mixture of grand common spaces and small, cozy private rooms. I loved how all the spaces, big and small, seemed to wrap you in a warm embrace.

Talk about being a kid in a candy store: I recently had the privilege of decorating a gorgeous Georgian townhouse to be featured on a public tour. I could feel my pulse accelerate as I wove through each room in this three-story beauty, reminiscent of the historic homes in Charleston, S.C., I so adore.

Chances are, your sideboard is one of the most glorious yet underused pieces of furniture in your entire home. There it sits, day after day, under a layer of dust, pining to be part of the excitement.

I was up channel surfing one night when I came across a program aimed at helping women look 10 years younger. I'm not one who feels insecure about her age: I'm loving life over 50. But I listened intently because I'm always eager for tips on how to live my life to the fullest and look my best while I'm doing it.