Happy New Year! (and… I Did It…)
Yep, I took the tree down. I suddenly had a burning desire to get it over with, and when I get that desire I just have to do it quickly. I can’t let myself think too much, because then I start remembering how fun it was the day we got it, how excited we were, how all the Christmas fun was still ahead… No! Out you go, tree. Of course the tree exploded about 10,000 dead needles on the way out- we’ll be cleaning those up for a while. Meanwhile, my sister sent me a photo of her “January tree.” They took all the Christmas decorations off and put blue and silver lights on the tree. As I admired the photo, I realized that I should NEVER be allowed to have an artificial tree. I would make it into a January tree… then a Valentine’s tree, then Easter, 4th of July… I would never want to take it down. When the next Christmas rolled around, I would take the brown and orange decorations off the “Thanksgiving” tree and voila! The Christmas tree would be ready to go. Much better for me to have a real tree that becomes a huge drooping mess by January 1st. We got the tree out and moved the couch back to its normal place. And then I put up some New Year’s decorations! And made some festive food. I also made our traditional “clock cookies,” which are actually the NYC Black and White Cookies from this book: I made a few “clocks” before giving up and making the rest of them black and white. Overall the kids and I spent a cozy evening at home. The rest of our Christmas stuff (including plenty of white twinkle lights) is still up, and I’m enjoying it- but it’s a relief to have the tree gone. It was a huge chore hanging over my head, and it’s over for another year. It’s 2025- HAPPY NEW YEAR! Top photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash