Quarantine Fun
Hello all! In case you missed my last post, there’s good news and bad news; the bad news is my son and I had Covid over Christmas, but the good news is I’m enjoying a lovely vacation at home this week. We’re both feeling much better, but sound terrible because we’re coughing a lot. I’m following the CDC guidelines and staying home for seven days, which means I won’t go back to work until Friday! Let’s return to Christmas for a moment. I got some amazing presents: The foot spa (YES!), a recipe binder, two books- Rosamunde Pilcher’s Winter Solstice and Jessie Itzler’s Living With a Seal, sweatpants and cozy socks from my daughter (ah, she knows me well), “Run More, Worry Less” tank top which I love and want to wear every single day (I’m wearing it right now), a portable tripod for my phone, and then at the bottom is my little stocking with some stocking stuffers- a sugar-free chocolate bar and some Starbucks Earl Grey tea bags, my favorite! Santa must have known I wouldn’t be able to go out to Starbucks for a week so he made sure I would still have my favorite tea. Somehow there were two other presents that didn’t make it into the picture- new running shorts from Athleta, and another book, I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. I wasn’t in my finest form on Christmas Day, and we didn’t even remember to take a picture of the tree until most of the presents were opened. I did get a picture of Muffin with her presents though: My son loves to give gifts that somehow involve self-improvement on the part of the recipient. His present was the recipe binder, which was billed as “the best gift you never knew you wanted.” The idea (or, his idea for me) is to have all my recipes in one place instead of rifling through various cookbooks, or scrolling through the internet. I’ve started this project, since I have the time: My sister will especially appreciate this gift because I will no longer be badgering her at every holiday, “Do you remember which recipe we used for rolls last year?” or “Can you send me the recipe for peanut butter balls again?” Good quarantine project. We’re also watching all the Harry Potter movies, and I’m reading the Rosamunde Pilcher book. So life is good. Except…. At this time of year I’m always fighting off post-Christmas depression. I just love everything about Christmas so much- the lights, decorations, the excitement of buying gifts, mysterious packages from Amazon arriving at the door, the cookies, the anticipation… when it’s over, everything just feels so blah. It’s always been hard for me, ever since I was a kid. I’ve tried everything- taking down the tree and decorations right away, leaving them up until January 6th (it’s bad luck to leave them up after epiphany!), planning a fun New Year’s celebration- and nothing works. I think the only way to prevent it would be to not care as much about Christmas in the first place. My husband likes Christmas, but he doesn’t LOVE it, and when it’s over he’s ready to move on to the next thing. So I just have to remind myself that post-Christmas depression is the price to pay for the amount of joy I get from the season. It will come again! My sister reminded me that before we know it, it will be July 4th and after that we’ll start to see Halloween things around. (Yep, we’re pretty nutty!) In the meantime I have to get through this low phase. I always do. I’m off to read my book! I would love to hear how other people deal with the end of the holidays. Do you get sad? Or are you excited to move on to the next thing? I’ll be happy to hear any suggestions!