I've had to stop reading the news. I hide my phone in the bathroom so I can't keep checkiing the goings-on.

You have family with you for a whole week? Exhausting is right! I'd be hiding in the bathroom with my phone! *g*

Like you, I am going to have to bear down during the beginning of December. I have a good deal of ideas and what-if writing done, so now I have to sift through it, toss it in the air and see what flutters down and coalesces into a story.
Good luck with the writing. I am looking forward to the DtC stories. Such a nice tradition!