After-Christmas Rush

It's already started. The New Year.

Normally, I don't pack away my tree and all the trimmings until January 5th, 10th, or even the 15th. But that's because prior to this year, we lived with Mike's mom. We pretty much did Christmas her way. This year was refreshing. I set the table how I wanted it, cooked what and when I wanted to cook, and lit candles every day. I reveled in the simplicity of our very own Christmas.

In the new Cable household, the tree came down today! I was ready. With balmy NC temperatures, the weather afforded us ample opportunity to pull all the boxes out of the storehouse and begin the process.

Christmas, unfortunately, carried a mixed bag of emotions. Along with the wonder and excitement of Christmas in our old farmhouse, our oldest son, daughter-in-law, and grandson have decided to move to Arizona. Again. For Chris, a major job promotion made the decision, actually. It's hard to turn something like that down in today's ecomony. Still, we're dreading it. In just a few days, they'll be gone. I can't even say when we'll see them again. Arizona is so far away, we can't just hop on a plane like we used to, and with a new baby on the way, I doubt they'll be heading back to NC anytime soon. It's taking some gettin' used to.

But our daughter spent the holiday with us, so she helped heal the sadness surrounding the move. The three of us took in a Love Feast at a Moravian Church on Christmas Eve, spent Christmas Day in our pajamas, watched old movies, napped, ate until we couldn't find another corner in our bodies to fill, and spent the rest of the next day in a food coma.

The house was warm, cozy, and only mildly decorated. No elf threw up on my walls, not this year. Candles, a beautiful tree, and the sound of Christmas music filled the house from Thanksgiving until yesterday.

But as of today, it is officially spring. (In my mind anyway.) I'm thinking of paint colors for the porch and perennials for the garden. HGTV ran wonderful landscaping shows today, and I thought I saw a robin this morning.

Probably not.

It's just that once the tree is down, the holidays are over for me. My After Christmas Rush. Rush to get winter well on its way, as well as our lives. I'm believing in a better 2009 for everyone, despite what CNN says.

I'm thinking I just might look for daffodils in the yard tomorrow.

And I have even sang Auld Lang Syne yet.

Blessings to you and yours.

Checking In

Ah, yes. It has been over a week since opening this blog. My fingers just feel, well, dead. Like they've been hijacked or beamed up into some abyss. A world of watching the clock, daily reports, and one-hour lunches.

Although I'm thoroughly enjoying my job, I miss my old one. The daily grind of writing in my jammies, and making coffee to get through a night of rewrites. Nowadays, I find myself dozing on the couch at 9 p.m., ready to hit the sack. A pile of stories ... untouched.

I like the routine of this new job. I love my boss and his wife and kids. I feel as if I've known them forever. He's even letting me sell my book at the front desk. How cool is that? The work is fairly easy, I enjoy our patients, and I'm taking home a real paycheck. That's nice.

Someday, in the future, I'll return to writing full-time. When that will be, is in God's hands. Right now, I'll try to blog more than once a week and find the energy to stay up past Gray's Anatomy. The world is flat at the moment. I don't want that to carry over into my writing. I'm working on a way to change my writing routine, as soon as the holidays are behind us.

In the meantime, if you care to check back once a while, you just might catch a new blog.

Blessings to you and yours.

Christmas Tree Time

Tonight was our little town's official Christmas Tree lighting. The mammoth pine in front of the Bed & Breakfast was the center of attention as folks bundled up and waited for the Mayor to flip the switch.

Unfortunately, I didn't last that long. An unusually frigid day for North Carolina kept the crowds huddled around hot chocolate, coffee, and hot cider tables. After helping out at the hot apple cider table for an hour, my feet froze to the cement pad and my head pounded from the bitter cold. My fifteen-month-old grand baby wasn't interested in waiting another hour to see Santa. I worried whether he was too cold as my nose dripped and my fingers grew numb. So, we headed to the warmth of the car and home.

Inside my house, the tree is lit and the mantles are decorated for the season. It's warm and cozy as the fire roars. It's Christmas tree time.

I love driving by houses at night, getting a glimpse of Christmas trees showing off in the windows. They blink and stretch toward the top of the curtain rods. Some are formal, dressed in white lights, while others dare to twinkle entirely in blue or even red. Occasionally, I sneak a peak at an old one, with those retro mammoth lights we had as kids. They came in every Crayola color, remember? Even orange. Hurling me back to the sixties when every tree was covered in angel hair and sprayed with fake snow, I love Christmas tree time.

But tonight, a fifty-foot tree in our town stands as host of the Christmas Season. I'll see it often, get some pictures, and remember it always. It will record itself in my memory book of my first Christmas Tree Time here.

I like that.

Blessings to you and yours.

The Joys of Working Women

I've got a blog post lurking in my head. Would love to stay and work on it. But it's 7:00 a.m. and I've spent too much time reading other friend's blogs. I better get my butt in gear or I'm going to be late for work -- writing for somebody else.

Oh, the joy of watching the clock.

Later, dudes.

Blessings to you and yours.