Christmas is over now

09 Jan Christmas is over now

I just finished updating the Christmas card list. That is officially the final act in my post-Christmas tear-down. But it’s not truly the final act. I still have to wash all the Holiday place mats and napkins we used this week when my brother and his family came for a belated Christmas visit. I am always surprised at how quickly the house can be transformed from a Christmas wonderworld (as it was this morning) into normal again (as it is now–mostly). And it looks a little bare–aside from the new toys strewn about that have yet to find a home.
I have so many things on my mind that I’d like to accomplish this year. I started out with grand ideas for decluttering and organizing–and I made great headway in the laundry room so far. Todd said I doubled it’s size just by organizing it. I wish that would work on the rest of the house! I have recently had an urge to push the wall of our kitchen/family room into the backyard about 20 feet because I feel cramped and cluttered. Six years and two children change your idea of the perfect floor plan and how much space you need. However, being unable to justify an expansion of this sort, I will resist my urge (unless, of course, we receive a huge unexpected windfall). We truly don’t need one inch more of space. We have more than most of the world and I live in our space quite happily most of the time.
I think it’s that new year itch for change. I want to cook new dishes. (I tried a Chicken Piccata recipe tonight, but wasn’t enamoured with the results.) I’ve been trying to get the kids (and myself) outside for a little while every day. I want to run more–could I maybe run a half marathon? I want to read more. I really need to write more. This could be is the year for a publishing breakthrough! I want to spend less time on Facebook and more time gazing at my children’s faces.

But the biggest change I want to make this year is inside my own head and heart. Accepting God’s grace more fully, living in the joy of His love, being okay with the lack of perfection in my own home and self. None of us have “arrived” and nothing is ever going to be perfect this side of Heaven. There will always be laundry to fold, mail to sort, dust on the furniture. I want to be more at peace with that–and with my own shortcomings and those of my loved ones as well. If I can accomplish that, the rest is just details.