Why I Like the Month of January

First of all . . . . . . . . .
hit the pause button . . . . . . . . . , hear that? It's quiet.
Admit it, there are a lot of "additional" wonderful things we do
in the month of December
in order to make Christmas special and
to get the most out of the holidays.
But once January comes around, things move at just
a little bit slower pace.
The tree is down, the decoration boxes are put away.
The furniture is back to normal. This process also involves
dusting and vacuuming, so the house is clean too!
I'll still be enjoying my Christmas gifts
and
experimenting with my new cookbooks.
The weather will be cold and I'll want
to stay indoors with the family where it's warm and cozy.
I'll have time to read a book,
watch a movie,
sew something.
And January is a great time for project cleaning.
Project cleaning is when you tackle
one project at a time,
like the hall closet,
a shelf in the sewing room,
a box in the garage, the top shelf in my closet.
Just one thing at a time.

Yes, you might say, "well you don't have young children,
that need cared for and taken to various activities."
And to that I will say to you, "enjoy them while they are young and make them your priority, your time will come soon enough when you can enjoy this quiet I call January".
And that is why I like January.

The Year is Winding Down

I have to say we had a great Christmas. Complete with lots of fun gifts, good food and hanging out with family. I'm on vacation until January 4th, so I'm planning on enjoying each day of it.

I got cook books for Christmas and I've been having fun reading through them. I received Pioneer Women's cookbook; http://thepioneerwoman.com/my_cookbook/

and the two Artisan Bread in Five Minutes cookbooks; http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Today we had homemade bread for dinner and I was surprised how good it turned out. You make the yeast dough and let it rise then put it in the fridge (up to 14 days). When you want to cook bread you take out a chunk of dough, shape it, let it rest, then bake it. I'll put some pictures up later on my food blog.

December, where have thee gone?

I was shocked to look at my blog and see that I haven't posted since November. But that just shows you what the month of December does to any normal routine. It throws it all into a new state of non stop activity and general constant busyness.

But it's all been good.

There has been;
Two church Christmas parties
One Messiah program
One grand daughter dance recital
One visit with out of town relatives
Two trips to the Post Office
One trip to UPS
Four sewing projects to finish
Multiple trips to the store
Tons of wrapping gifts
Oh and did I mention - plus working 40 hours a week on my job.

It is now December 23rd, the tree is up and decorated, the presents are all wrapped, the candy making is all done (and mostly gone), the coworker gifts have been exchanged. This is the last work day until January 2010.

Tonight we get to step away from Christmas and celebrate Gisele's 9th birthday.

Tomorrow it's grocery shopping, laundry and housecleaning but at a much slower pace.

Happy Holidays to all!