Much despised task: "Un-decorating" Christmas
The front bay window had numerous decorations, now all stored in a plastic tote.
Christmas cards, on display during the season, were taken down.
There were 26 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2019, six fewer than the year before. This has not been the case since 2002.
On the bright side, we were blessed to have family visits for each holiday. That meant we still had autumn decor up until Nov. 30 and started decorating for Christmas on Dec. 1, finishing up about 10 days later.
It also means that "un-decorating" for Christmas was/is a hated task. We finished up most of it on Jan. 8, 2020.
It turns out the home decorations, gift wrapping, baking, writing and sending Christmas cards, readying the home for long-term, beloved guests, and keeping everything clean, neat and tidy can be done in 26 days. Some long nights, perhaps, but it's possible.
The "un-decorating," however, is a horrible task. Right now the kitchen table still has holiday placemats, and we are using the holiday glasses and cups. These are bright and cheery and in generous sizes, so they are used into February.
Global warming apparently made the early January temperatures very temperate, so when husband Steve started taking down the outdoor decorations he was able to do it in less than an hour. (In previous years, we've turned out the lights and brought in the bulbs when the weather improved.)
Everything fits into Sterlite containers and is stored in a space on the bottom level of our home. We used to buy live trees, but now they are artificial, and covered up, labeled, and stored in the laundry room.
To make the difficult chores more palatable, I fired up the IPod and played some favorite music. Not holiday music, to be sure, but what's wonderful the other 10 months of the year.
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