Back to the grindstone

The tree is in its bag and the lights are boxed up and Santa has been shipped back to the pole. I made trip after trip upstairs and I was comfortable that I was done for another year....And then I went to do laundry and got mugged by a gang of Christmas turtlenecks. I picked myself up and did my laundry and turned my back on them, I had shut the door on all that, literally and the thought of having to go back and do any of it again was just really depressing.

But on the surface, it looks like its all done, I haven't found any run away ornaments or stray Santa's hiding behind the curtains and I spent Saturday wrestling with the outdoor stuff and getting it put away so I can feel some sense of accomplishment. The outside looks as it should and the living and dining-rooms are bare and back to their pre-Christmas state., I am as in years past unsatisfied with my "winter" table cloth The rooms look smaller now and everything is darker. I miss the twinkle.

But there are things to look forward to! The time change is sooner rather than later, the days are marginally longer now so dog walking doesn't have to be done by candle light or require an armed escort - there is a reason I haven't cut his claws yet. No one wants to be on the wrong end of his talons, I mean, really he's like a furry bird of prey,I've sen him go airborne and I really think he has some raptor in him he will cut you and then carry you back to his nest/crate. For reals. The dog will play with you like a chew toy. Its too much trouble to rattle that off to everyone we run into walking back home after dark but I make sure I keep him on a short leash and act like he's vicious.