Christmas All Wrapped Up

Once December 25th is past, I always comfort myself with the thought that there are twelve days of Christmas and there is still plenty of celebrating to be done. This year my family got together to celebrate on the 28th and my in-laws stayed with us until New Year's Day, so we had a full week of visiting, eating, talking and general merrymaking.

But here it is, January 7th, my in-laws have flown back home, and school is back in session, so we spent the day wrapping and boxing everything up again. Right after Thanksgiving, I almost wince with trepidation at the mountain of tasks I have to accomplish in the weeks ahead. We have to make room for Christmas - we have to rearrange the furniture to find space for the tree, take a few minutes to light the Advent candles every night before dinner, find time in our busy schedules for baking, parties, shopping and wrapping. And somehow we manage it all. We fit it all in.

When we put it all away in January and there are no more parties to look forward to or desserts to bake, things look a little bleak at first. The tree is completely bare of color and shine, the mantles and shelves are empty without the Nativity scene that graced it only yesterday
... and all the jolly carved Santas are safely wrapped in paper and stuffed back in the box, ready to be enjoyed again next year.

I felt so low that I had to go and finish off the last of the box of chocolates I received from two lovely twin girls that come to my Storytime classes at the library! Now even that is empty!
But January is like a clean slate. Long winter nights stretch ahead with very few obligations crowding the schedule. Which leaves me wide open for lots of new art projects! I'm already committed to several projects due early this year and I'm making my final decisions about goals for the year ahead...