The Christmas tree is going down. The ornaments are going back into their boxes and back into storage. Another Christmas over. What took weeks and weeks to get here was over in a flash. Still, hanging out all day Christmas day with family talking and laughing was absolutely wonderful! Maggie was right, Santa did bring her a horse. And, as you can see from the TV there, we ran “A Christmas Story” for 24 hours straight. I never get tired of that movie.

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However, now that it is all over with, the sad remnants of Christmas remain. The tree, now with nothing at the bottom but the pretty tree skirt (we never really get to appreciate it anyway) the empty stockings at the fireplace (I swear I am getting NEW stockings next year because ours are too hard for Santa to stuff, things snag on the inside of the knitting) and the mess in the kitchen.

Yes, the dishwasher has been loaded and unloaded twice already and yet, it seems we’ve barely made a dent in the mess that was Christmas dinner. The turkey platter is still sitting on the counter berating me every time I walk through kitchen. Everyone is still happily munching leftovers although it seems like such a chore to have to take them out of the refridgerator and pull off the foil covering them. Christmas is officially over, I’m afraid.