Not Quite Back to Normal, but Close!

Well, our house is totally undecorated and all signs of the Christmas season are put away until next year! The only thing that remains are the gazillion gifts that the kids got that I haven't found a home for yet :) This, in and of itself, is an amazing accomplishment for us. We are usually a little slower to put all of the decorations away - if we're really on our game, it's sometime toward the end of January or early February. And, don't get me started on getting them back into the attic. Hubby usually puts that off until at least April or May, leaving boxes & bags stacked all over the guest room! But, this year, something got into me and I decided that the holiday season was officially over on January 1, 2007.

Can you believe it's already 2007? I know, every year we all say that, but it really hit me this year. It seems like only yesterday that we were all discussing the impending disaster of the approaching Y2K. Hubby was working lots of overtime (he's in the IT industry) and spending all of his spare time on his knees praying that nothing catastrophic would occur to the systems that he oversaw. Thankfully, nothing did :) But, it's sort of funny to look back at now, isn't it?

So, here I sit, kids running around all over the place for another 2 days. Dare I say it? School will be back in session for all 3 kiddos on Thursday and I am sitting on pins & needles waiting for it! They're as ready to go back as I am ready for them to go back :) The 'new' of all of their Christmas and birthday gifts has already worn off, so come Thursday, when I'm sitting in the quiet of my house, about 1/2 of those gifts will be sent to the spare closet for hibernation. Every year, I put a bunch of them away until the summer. This way, when the kids are bored and looking for something new to play with, I simply pull out the bag or box full of 'new' stuff and let them dig in! It gives them the joy of re-opening their toys, reminds them of what they got for their birthday or Christmas, and gives me about a 2 week reprieve from their whining. Works like a charm very year :)

As for resolutions, I have made none this year! I have a few hopes (like: I hope to finally get into some sort of work out schedule by joining a local church's fitness center, I hope to finally lose this extra 15 pounds and in turn get into my smaller clothes once again, I hope to find a way to make the money stretch without busting our budget every pay period, I hope to be a better mommy and wife, I hope to find the 'fun' in the funny things that happen around here rather than getting irritated when something doesn't go exactly as I have planned, I hope to live my life to the fullest and to show the love of God in everything I do, and, my favorite, I hope to get a nicer/newer car!), but no resolutions. Resolutions are made to be broken, then re-resolved each and every year. I'm shooting to actually make some changes in myself, and my household. But, I am under no pressure to do so. It's just a hope or a goal of mine. We'll see how things turn out :)

So, here's hoping that your holiday season was blessed, that your January 2nd and beyond are fabulous, and that you're able to reach at least 1 goal on your To-Do list before December 31, 2007!