January 2, 2009

We got up later than usual this morning, but I still walked on the treadmill and did resistance exercises.

Our chore for today was taking the Christmas trees down and putting the house in after-holiday order. In another blog, I estimated that there were over 200 ornaments on the tree in the sun room, but I underestimated...there were over 300 on it! No wonder it takes so long to decorate and un-decorate that tree.

In storing the ornaments, we don't just toss them into a box right off the tree. We first remove the hooks, because if they're left on, the ornaments get all tangled together and frustrating to deal with the next year. We also store special, fragile ornaments and tree toppers in their original boxes, and wrap others, like acrylic ones that are easily scratched, in tissue.

The sun room tree sported nine strings of multi-colored lights, which Hubbie carefully wound in loops and secured with twist ties. The six or eight wooden cranberry garlands are stored in a separate plastic grocery store bag.

Everything is tucked away now in a big wooden box in the sun room, or in cardboard boxes stacked in one corner of the spare bedroom closet, awaiting the 2009 holiday season, only 363 days away.

The Christmas cards are stacked on an end table in the den, ready to be re-read before being consigned to a scrapbook, or stored away to be recycled into new cards, gift tags, or other craft projects.

All that remains is the village on the mantel, which is now a "winter village" for the month of January. I think I need a wintry wreath for the front door, too, so I might make that a craft project this weekend. First I'll need to shop for decorations for the wreath, though...mainly white elements, I think. Since I haven't set foot outside the house in two whole days, I'll probably want to shop tomorrow.

Another project I need to think about is writing Christmas thank you notes. I'll probably do that this weekend, too.