Our Florida family left last Friday after spending Christmas with us and skiing in Colorado. No more opening and shutting of doors, no more wet bathing suits (hot tub, not swimming pool), no more volley ball & pickleball. No more laundry to speak of except for catching up on laundering sheets and stuff. Oh dear …
I was much too ready for a shopping trip to think of staying home to put Christmas decorations away. First, I baked our son’s favorite cookies to deliver on Saturday morning to Friendswood. Unfortunately, they weren’t home, still en-route from Oklahoma where they left their fur babies with the other Grands. They also went to Colorado and met up with the Florida gang for a skiing get-together.
My mission after delivering cookies was to find a Christmas tree on sale for the Station. I have never seen Hobby Lobby so empty. ALL Christmas removed, replaced with Valentines! Okay, that’s okay, I needed a few more Heart-shaped cookie tins! I didn’t search further for Christmas trees. I figured if Hobby Lobby was full of Valentines, every place else would be.
The rest of my Saturday was spent doing laundry and preparing to remove Christmas from my house as well.
So, Sunday, after church, I dove in headfirst. Started with removing tree decorations. I like to wrap each one in tissue and gently pack them away. Once done, my husband dismantled the tree and boxed it for going out in the elevator closet. We still call it the “elevator closet” because that’s where the elevator was going to go but it just became a closet instead. If you know anything about beach houses and lack of storage, you will understand.
You can’t just put stuff away without cleaning up where all this stuff has been occupying space for 3 weeks (or more).
Next, I tackled the loft where I had lights, garland and my collection of Christmas stockings. Now, everything is upstairs waiting to be boxed and put away in those closets. I purposely waited until my granddaughter left for home, as is, the upstairs is not fit for humans. If you know me, you know I’m only using her as an excuse, I threatened to leave Christmas up all year, I love it so!
Since no one actually goes upstairs, I’ll probably wait to clean up that mess next weekend.
I hope you’re all staying warm. I, personally, love the cold weather. So does Maezy! She can’t wait to take her trips to the beach, morning and evening. Good thing PawPaw loves her so much.
