After Christmas

Blueberry muffins for breakfast. Christmas decorations lurking after Christmas.

After a day of cleaning and un-decorating, things are open and fresh, ready for New Years.

I am the type to begin celebrating Christmas the day after Halloween. It's great to get the decorations out, go over the top on food and gifts, sing the songs as much as possible during the season. 

The day after Christmas, I take it all down. To me, it's not so much about saying goodbye to Christmas. Packing away the decorations while the holiday is still fresh is one more way to enjoy them. If I let this tree sit around another week, I'd dread cleaning it up.  

The other benefit to sweeping my way through the house in a mad dash the day after Christmas, is the welcoming feeling a clean house brings for the new year. January is coming right up in less than a week. In a way, nothing happens in January. It can be a depressing month. But a clean, stripped back setting at home can help us to move forward into new goals for the new year.  It's a blank space ready for new ideas.

Christmas

Christmas is the best time for decorations.

The girls had fun outside with all the snow.

Mama and little Julia trying out the candy.

Stockings all in a row.

Fruit trees dressed for the season.

It was a nice Christmas. We traveled a short ways to be with family. It was especially nice to see the girl cousins together this holiday. Our celebrations included very nice foods and decorations, laughter and gifts and fun. 

The Day Before Christmas Eve

My favorite indulgent breakfast, an egg soufle and coffee

On the rooftop parking lot, the only spaces left on a busy morning.

I am not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to have a hair appointment the 23rd of December.  The town was super busy, as in crazy drivers and last minute shoppers.  I went super early to get a couple extra, last minute gifts and cat food.  Early was very nice.  I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast and coffee. I took my time, thinking the stores wouldn't open until 9 or 10.  I went by Christmas Tree Shops at 830 and it was open. Great!  So easy to shop when a store is empty.  Well it turned out the mall opened at 7 am so that place was packed.  I needed just one thing but found myself lured into three or four mall stores.  And it was after the mall, when all I had to do was jet over to the downtown, that things got crazy. It wasn't total gridlock but very close to it, waiting twice at each street light.  It was nice to sit still for my hair. Then I went to WalMart on the way to the preschool, which was madness. No carts. All in use. All I really wanted was cat litter and Simon.  You know, Simon,n  the memory game. I guess they don't make that anymore. So I felt silly to be standing in WalMart with all the desperate, last minute shoppers, looking for a toy that was not there. 

Feels great to be home now. The animals are reminding me it's time for their evening meal. Julia would prefer I sit on the couch with her to watch her favorite cartoon, Yo Gabba Gabba. Both the cat and Julia would like to try pushing buttons on my laptop.  Steeling a few minutes here and there for computer interaction is not always easy.

I'm looking forward to the celebrations of the next two days.  It's the end of the year!  Time to celebrate!  Christmas, family, gifts, winter, and the end of the year are all good reasons for reflecting, eating and resting with family.

Busy Monday Countdown to Christmas

It would be great to get through a bunch of laundry before Christmas.

It's time to bake the trees.  Instead of frosting, I used pure maple cream.

The gifts won't have to wait much longer for their unveiling.

Town was snowy and windy at sunset today.

I drove up and down Main Street until the sun went down to get these pictures from the car. The girls in the back seats didn't seem to mind because they were watching Baby Einstein on the DVD player. The scene in town was like a movie set, wind gusting, shoppers running.

Lately my view is to try and appreciate the good moments in life, instead of bemoaning all the difficulties in between. When we were climbing the sledding hill yesterday, Ellie kept saying she wanted to sled down but somehow not have to hike up the hill.  It was the perfect time to preach my theory about life being a lot of hard work and a few joyful moments. It does seem unfair some of the time, that work takes a disproportionate amount of our time.  There are certain ways to edge the system, such as finding work that is also enjoyable. On the other hand, it might be easier to accept the odds and glorify the moments. When I do, these moments tend to seem more frequent.  

Snowy Weekend at Home

The news around here is two feet of snow in one weekend. It was beautiful, fun, exciting, peaceful and appreciated, as snow the weekend before Christmas usually is for most people.  It was a hodge podge of play dough, sewing, cooking, cleaning and sledding for us here.

Joyful Ski Moments Today

This is my first year to wear a helmet and goggles.

Skiing with hardly anybody on the mountain today.

Invitation to a View.

Tiny pine cones on a snowy branch.

Apres Ski in my car. Thermos coffee never tasted so good.

December Mom Job

Icy roadside trees.

Banana muffins.

A hat I made today for somebody's Christmas present (she doesn't read the blog very often).

Taking Ellie to tap class.

Hot chocolate for dessert.

Getting back on track this week now that Julia is recovered and enjoying part of each weekday at preschool. The house is clean again, holiday cards and packages are sent, sewing items are back on progress, gift wrapping is nearly completed... all this and it's only Wednesday. 

Ice Storm

Icy wrap.

This lamp does not fare well in foul weather.

Branches fallen on the driveway. My hands smelled lovely after dragging it off.

Phlox on the border of the rose garden.

Half of New Hampshire residents are without power because of the ice storm. We've been able to rig up our generator and propane system to give us heat and electricity for now.  Mostly I've been inside taking care of Julia. While she napped, I wrote out addresses on envelopes for holiday cards. I did get out for about an hour or so to shovel ice and take photos.  

Ice Storm today

Ice is covering everything, weighing down branches.

Generator is giving us emergency electricity for a while.

Ice covered house and tree.

The driveway with broken branches.

Ice storm means no heat or electricity.  Our backup power generator is helping for now but sucking down propane at an alarming rate.  Julia is on antibiotic but still not well enough to go to preschool.  

Enjoying the moments

The road heading north towards the white mountains. Nice clear day in the midweek to enjoy a quiet road trip.
A covered bridge in Conway.
The joyful baker smiles with pride for the marvelous cookies inside this shop.
My new red wool coat, a fabulous bargain beyond measure, which will last a lifetime.
While I was having my teeth cleaned yesterday morning, the dental hygienist and I concluded that the key to enjoying motherhood, especially during the years while our children are young, is to savor the good moments that are like blossoms, scattered amidst the hours of multi-tasking labors.  Do not dwell on the laundry, diaper changes, dishes and carrying of 30 pound wiggly toddlers.  Instead, let the joys of a child's laughter and twinkling eyes linger in your mind.  Enjoy the brief escapes from chores to savor lunch out on the town and Christmas shopping in a mountain town.

So here it is.  Tom and I did our morning chores and then scooted out of town for lunch and two brief hours of holiday shopping before picking up the girls at preschool and singing songs to get them home without fussing for apple juice.  I took the picture of the sunset on the ride home.  The sun is setting so early these days, just about 4 oclock!   I tried to take a picture of the cute kids riding along in the back seat but Julia declined because my photo shoot was delaying her getting home for apple juice.

Dog Cat Relations going well

Of course my blog would not be complete without the update on Ubi and BlackJack getting along well. They seem to quite enjoy each other's company now.  Still working out the "lines" that shall never be crossed, such as the "never come near me when I'm eating from my dish" line or the "never reach for me when I am hiding under a chair" line.