Here are the things you know you want to do this week: Finish your Christmas shopping (or start your Christmas shopping). Ice skate with the kids. Eat copious amounts of ham and cookies. Watch football. Nap.
 
And here's a thing you don't (yet) know you want to do, but which -- stay with us -- could be a really good idea: paint.
 
Yep, paint. Because we know there's at least one room in the house you've been meaning to touch up for the last year and a half or so, and this just might be the time to do it.
 
Why now, you ask? Why paint now?
 
There are a few good reasons. First and foremost, you have some time off during which you're hanging out at home. That rarely happens. And you know how hard it is to cram painting into a typical, over-scheduled weekend.
 
Second, it's dry outside, and really dry inside. Just look at your hands or touch your elbows if you need proof of this. Dry skin is not so great, but dry air is very good for freshly painted walls. Time to dry will be quick.
 
Lastly, that ham. And those cookies. It might be a stretch, but if you're going to heavy up on holiday calories, and you are, you might as well burn them off with some useful activity. A quick Google search tells us that painting can burn more than 200 calories per hour.

That's a free slice of ham, by our measure. Top that.

Oh, and if you want to avoid the stress of painting yourself (all that masking tape! all those supplies!), overseeing a terrific and trusted local painter from CertaPro Painters may not burn calories, but it certainly adds to the joy of the season.