huge holiday stress

I have succumbed to holiday stress. Between ferrying the kids to piano, volunteering for my choir's silent auction, trying to buy gifts online, picking up my husband from the train stationa nd then driving my other son at ballet, I could feel my heart pounding and my stomach churning and I could swear I sensed my blood pressure skyrocketing.
It probably started with my online shopping trip to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com where hours of price comparisons finally revealed - surprise: the prices are about the same. But at the root of it all, is money stress. What else is new? A survey the American Psychological Association found that 61 percent of Americans are stressed for the same reason so at least I'm in good company. www.apa.org/releases/holidaystress.html and the blog On Women by Deborah Kotz, has more details about the study which shows that more women are experiencing holiday stress over gift giving than men (41 percent to 35 percent). www.usnews.com/blogs/on-women/2008/12/12/why-women-are-prone-to-holiday-stress.html. But those of us who have been agonizing over the whole gifts from Santa thing are way ahead of the APA. We know in our gut (literally) that it's all about the money. They have several practical suggestions about how to cope with stress: make connections, set realistic goals, take decisive actionn to deal with the root causes of the stress and take care of yourself. And I agree with all of the suggestions, especially the part about making connections. I'm just having trouble making connections becauase of my tremendous Christmas deadline pressure. I'm meditating and doing yoga and walking, I'm eating right. But I'm having trouble finding the Christmas spirit. I'm sure lots of people feel the same way.
I'm sure it's nothing a few Christmas carols and some cookies can't cure. But in the meanwhile, I have late Christmas cards to send and more gifts to buy and food to prepare and the list goes on and on and on.........