Sunday, January 3, 2010

It's Time...


January 1st may have marked the start of the new year for most people, but for me it begins tomorrow on January 4th. In my book, the new year must commence on a Monday. Everybody has to be back to school and back to work before I'll even entertain the thought of a New Year's resolution.

The tree is down, the house is clean, the last two bottles of wine were consumed last night. My jeans don't fit, I haven't been to an early class at the gym in 2 weeks, and I'm sick of planning family adventures. This morning we finished the 1000 piece puzzle that Santa brought us which is aptly named Early To Rise...something we as a family have not done since mid-December. But all good things must come to an end and for us it ends tomorrow when the alarm goes off at 6:00 am.

Aside from a few dozen Christmas cookies that remain on the kitchen counter taunting me with their chocolate chips and pecans, I am ready to face tomorrow. Well, almost. I don't know what to do with the Christmas cards. I am not a sentimental person. At all. In fact, I don't save anything. My motto is, "When in doubt, throw it out." But for some reason, I have a hard time parting with the Christmas cards. I think it's the photos that get to me; it seems like a crime to throw them away.

Please don't leave a comment and suggest that I make a delightful handmade gift or craft with my 2009 Christmas cards. I will not make Christmas place mats or tree ornaments using recycled Christmas cards, thank you very much. Don't try to tell me that decoupage is simple and fun because I know better. And while I love the photo frames that my children made in preschool that hang from the tree every year, our tree is certainly not big enough to host the likes of the Smiths, the Jones and the Johnsons.

Each year when the cards arrive in the mail, I hang them from ribbons on the three doors in my kitchen. They are with us the whole holiday season; in fact, I still haven't taken them down. (Note to friends: cards that arrive early in the season get primo spots on the ribbon. Late arrivals are often relegated to the bottom. I'm just saying...) The other night my son and I played a game of Who Isn't Related But Could Be? The object of the game is to spot two people, in two different families, on two different cards...who look alike. (This year's winners were a couple of Portuguese Water Dogs.) We also try to pick our favorite card, but never manage to pick just one...we love them all.

I didn't save the love letters that my husband sent me when we were dating, I didn't save an invitation to our wedding. I didn't save my children's hospital hats or bracelets. I didn't save a photo of my softball team or a birthday card from my grandmother. But I do have stacks of Christmas photos from friends and family for the last couple of years. It's time to add to my collection.

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