Post Holiday Letdown

I started putting away Christmas today. This is not nearly as exciting as putting it up. It means Christmas is a whole year away. It means it's still months until I can get out spring decorations. It means it's the start of a new year, and funnily, while normally I'm a raging optimist, I always start a new year with a sense of apprehension.

Blake is back at work today after a four day weekend (more on that in a second) and it looks like he'll have a lot of overtime for the foreseeable future (good for the budget but we'd rather be poor and see more of each other). So, instead of moping and complaining, I'm determined to make the most of his hours away and increase my around the house productivity (when Rory allows me to, that is!). Today I initiated my new dehydrator: diced and sliced onions and beef jerky! Tomorrow comes the fruit leather! Seeing Blake's enthusiasm for the jerky at lunch made it all worth it, and since I recently discovered his hidden passion for fruit leather, I know I can brighten his day tomorrow as well.

We had such a wonderful weekend together- I really wish he could just stay home and hang out with me all the time! We spent a lot of time at his parents' house since his sister was up for a couple days. We went to the 10pm pine cone drop in subzero temperatures (sans baby, of course!) and managed to stay up until midnight! Other highlights include watching at least a dozen episodes of the West Wing (which Blake has gotten me addicted to), going out for breakfast, a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, and Blake getting to see a guy movie (True Grit) with his dad. We were so sad when this morning came!

Despite the end of the holidays, there's so much coming this spring and summer to look forward to, mostly babies and weddings! And so, even though I'm boxing up ornaments and even though my house reeks of onion, God is faithful and good and I'm moving ahead confidently into 2011!