Tuesday, January 06, 2009

the big cleanse

Here it is the 6th of January and my Christmas decorations are still up. You would think I didn't know that all magic, even Christmas magic, has a dark side. The dark side to Christmas magic is that on the stroke of midnight, when the calendar rolls over to December 26th, all Christmas decorations become sad and cluttered looking.

I couldn't help it really. Usually I have the glitter and bobbles wrapped and carefully tucked away before New Years. But I was out of town and so we had to return to a house that felt like a ghost town. Remains of what used to be.

So today is the day. I am ordering in sushi for lunch and I have coerced Jenny into coming over under the guise of a relaxing afternoon. I'll butter her up with a spicy salmon hand roll and put her to work.

I actually began my thorough cleaning project yesterday starting on the boy. It was back to school day and high time to scrub behind the ears and clip back fingernails caked with play dough. I scrubbed his head and checked his armpits. He cried out once or twice at the inhumanity of my project, but in the end he succumbed.


Oh happy day! Back to school! After dropping him off at his classroom, I had a knee jerk reaction to go get a cocktail. Then I remembered, oh yeah, my new diet, and then, oh yeah, I don't drink. So I went home and thoroughly enjoyed a ridiculously long, hot, kid-free shower and ate an entire tangerine without having to share one single segment.

11 comments:

Jennifer said...

Sounds like a perfect day. Of course, these days I am quite easily amused.

Pecos Blue said...

I started today too. I do like it still though.

Elizabeth said...

That picture is amazing!

SleightGirl said...

I hate taking down Christmas Decorations...

When I was a kid, we had a brown carpet in the living room...my mom would say, the tree comes down when it matches the carpet.

One even stayed up until June...lol

Dana said...

I love to read blogs...yours touches my heart. I had no category to file yours under, so I had to make a new one..."tender". Dana

Anonymous said...

love you, Thom. oxo.

Just SO said...

Mmmmmm I'm imagining a long hot, kid free shower. I'm thinking that will go on the top of my "to do" list tomorrow.

Renee toeNja said...

I think we may be kindred spirits ;-)

Laura said...

I think I got the more personal description of your time alone on my blog!!!! And I loved it!

Willow's World & Willow's Wool said...

I love this post, you write really beautifully

Jen Lee said...

What???!!! You banish your decorations before New Year? I'm taking our down this weekend, and wishing our tree wasn't completely dead so I could leave it all up a bit more! Of course, I'd also begin decorating after Halloween if trees were sold that early.