Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Anticipation

In the weeks before Christmas, the air is thick with anticipation. The coming festivities envelop me with a warmth that permeates the cold December days and heats my very heart. Christmas carols in the car and twinkle lights in the windows keep me company at home and out and about and I get wrapped up and carried away. It is utterly delightful!

December 26 brings with it a bit of a vacuum. As is our nature, we tend to fill a vacuum, and in our house, we fill the days following Christmas with special treats like board games and books by the fire, movies with popcorn and long marvelous mornings sleeping in, the unwanted alarm clock sulkily unused across the room.

Somewhere in the week after December 25, a little bug bites me and give me the itch to regroup and repack and return to a life of routine. Don't get me wrong. I have not yet put away my decorations and I have no desire to give the alarm clock his reign over my morning. However, I find myself inexplicably drawn to websites like www.holdeverything.com and www.organize.com and www.containerstore.com and the giddy feeling I previously got from wrapping gifts is now coming from the thought of cleaning out my pantry. This is a sick twist, a strange trade off, but one that I find delightfully practical and, dare I admit it, welcome!

Until it is actually time to put things away (a few more days of festive pleasure) and move into the new year, I content myself to browse the occasional store ad full of totes and bins, linens and cleaning supplies. I pour over storage possibilities and sorting and purging tips like a gardener bides her winter time with seed catalogs. To everything there is a season and a time to every activity under heaven. I choose to take Solomon's wise (and inspired) words to heart and enjoy each season for what it has in store, with predictable turns and surprise endings alike!

Off I go to read my book before I tackle the pantry!

Happy New Year!

1 comment:

Shannon said...

The lego chess set turned out great! Did the boys love them? Miss you guys!