Perhaps that's why I'm never in a rush to take the Christmas decorations down. Not that I have many up this year -- the vast majority of my Christmas decorations were destroyed in The Flood and haven't been replaced yet because I hate paying full price for things and I also hate shopping immediately after Christmas; go figure -- but I did hang a couple strings of lights, and set out some shiny things, and found one of my favorite Scentsy warmers that happens to be Christmas-themed. Soon enough I'll take these things down and pack them away until next year. But not until at least January 5, because that's the 12th day of Christmas. In the past, I've kept the decorations up until the middle of January, because that's when the boy was born so why not keep the tree up until his birthday? Alas, I didn't put a tree up this year, and the boy doesn't even live with us anymore. I guess the bottom line is that I'll take my decorations down when I feel like it, and not a moment before. :D
I have the day off today. It's our Christmas holiday day, since the actual holiday fell on the weekend. So yeah, I'm definitely not complaining about life or my job today 😍. A day off without using PTO? Yes, please! Of course, last night as I was falling asleep I had all these ideas of things to do: hit the basement floor with the carpet cleaner, set up my sewing machine, organize my craft supplies, go to the old house and pick up some more things to bring here (the end is in sight, at least for the stuff we have inside the house; don't ask about the barn or the garage for a while), go through the rest of my clothes and sort out what can be donated. So what have I actually accomplished? I slept until 9am, had banana bread for breakfast, parked my butt in my living room chair for a while, and played games on my phone, until about noon. Then I started some laundry, swept the floors, unloaded the dishwasher and loaded it back up again, cleaned the air fryer, changed the bedding, took out some garbage, packed away some Christmas gift bags to reuse next year, and went through some more of my clothes to sort out what can be donated. Apparently the roads are bad out there, so I decided to stop at the boy's house and pick up more stuff another day this week. I had leftover egg bake for lunch. Oh em gee, egg bake is the most perfect dish ever!! Every time we have it, I think we should have it more often. Yet I never do anything about that. To quote Homer (Simpson), "Well, excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don't work on!"
Speaking of which, the last few days I have had incredible sewing cravings. I just want to make something -- some curtains, a table runner, a queen-sized quilt for our bed, you know, something useful -- but I don't know what. That's why one of my goals for today (last night when I was trying to fall asleep) was to set up my sewing machine and organize my stuff so I could actually make something again. It's one of those cravings that feels like I should let it build up a little bit more, first, so that when I do attack the craft supplies, I will actually get things done instead of just poking around a little bit until I get bored. Know what I mean?
But there is one enormous flaw that I have been working on, thankyouverymuch. I've never been great at keeping up with housework. I was the kid always getting yelled at to clean their room, so I can assure you this has been a lifelong struggle. I love having a nice, clean, organized home, I just don't like doing the work to keep it that way. I always used to joke that I was missing the gene that makes women (or men) instinctively want to keep things neat and tidy and presentable. I've now come to realize that a lot of the struggle was probably due to depression. There are lots of ties to depression and the state of my home, actually. When it's nice and clean and organized, I feel like I have my shit together and am functioning more like a normal person, and life in general doesn't seem so overwhelming. There are still moments, of course -- there will always be moments! -- but overall, knowing that I can keep my house clean gives me hope for the rest of my life, whatever other struggles I am currently up against.
So I'm beyond proud to admit that I've kept this house clean since we moved in, one month ago! I know it's only a month, but it's a start. It bothers me now when the hamper is full, or there are crumbs on the countertops, or dishes in the sink or even in the dishwasher. It's so easy to keep up by doing a little bit every day, here and there, before I sit down and play games on my phone or watch TV or anything like that. And waking up to a clean house is one of the best feelings on earth! Especially on days like today when I get to plant my tired butt in my favorite chair and just veg out and not do anything until I feel like something needs to be done. I worried that once we got real furniture, I'd be more inclined to sit on my butt and do nothing more often and the housework would start to slide again, but that hasn't been the case at all. I even feel bad if I don't put the clean clothes away right after taking them out of the dryer. CRAZINESS!
Speaking of which, I just let the dog out and realized the steps and sidewalk are still covered in snow. I think I'll go out and take care of that now. Then take care of the random tote of stuff that's in the kitchen. And then? Who knows. The world is my oyster! My nice, clean, organized oyster!
TTYL
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