Holiday Tear-Down

Today is the day that the Christmas decorations will all come down.  Jeff took down the outdoor decorations and put them away the day after Christmas.  The weather was warm and the ground not frozen so it really worked out well this year.

On the other hand, I worked the 3 days after Christmas and then we went to Rice Lake for New Year's weekend.  As a result, I've been sleeping a lot of days so I haven't been able to tackle the indoor decorations.  Woke up at 4 a.m. today, though, and started the process around 6:30.  By 7:30, I have all of the dishes put away and the upstairs bathroom done.

Not sure why it makes sense to drag all of that out every year for roughly 4 weeks.  The dishes alone take forever to put away.  Still, not sure if it would seem like a holiday otherwise and it really is pretty.   As I put things away, I'm also sorting by room and getting rid of things that I don't use.  That's my plan anyway, we'll see if it works.

A couple of notes about Christmas this year.  A)  I made waaaaay too many cookies and treats -- around 18 dozen cookies or something like that.  I had to pull a lot of cookie dough out of the freezer because Jeff put pheasants and venison in it and it just was too full.  B)  I think we're tired of having lasagna for Christmas.  Because we have it occasionally during the year, I don't think it's that special.  The ravioli with white sauce is a bigger hit.  C)  Opening gifts right away in the afternoon is a great idea.  Gives everyone a chance to relax then and watch TV or play.

Continued....

So, by noon everything is done except the living room (including the tree).  I took the opportunity to clean as I went along, and completely moved all of the furniture in the dining room into a more pleasing arrangement.  I think I've been up and down the basement stairs 100 times!  Stopped for lunch because I definitely need to rest for a bit.  I'm pretty sore from moving the furniture and from running up and down the stairs.  Two of my plants have been moved into the dining room and I think I'm going to move a little of the furniture in the living room, too, to make the space more user-friendly.

Kind of sleepy with my early rise -- may need a short nap this afternoon, too.

Continued...

So, no nap this afternoon but I did rest for a while before tackling the living room.  Now, at the end of the day, everything is done except the tree.  Except for the things that need to go in the garage, it's all put away, too, so I'm pretty proud of myself (and my poor aching back!)  I'll finish up tomorrow.