Morning After Christmas

It's December 26 and I'm sitting at our computer desk with a hot minty drink.

I'm not playing Christmas music anymore, because frankly I'm a little saturated with everything (yes, even you, Charlie Brown).

I'm not eating Christmas cookies for breakfast like I have for about a week. Doesn't seem right. I'm also afraid to step on the scale.

Interesting how the novelty and magic of Christmas just fades away. I'm glad for it. If we celebrated Christmas all year I fear it would become a chore. Looking at my Lindsay stocking made of felt and yarn would make me shrug instead of making me smile. (These are stockings my mom made several decades ago for all the family members. Each one is designed with a little doll with hair and uniquely colored dresses. I always thought mine was the best because the dress is red and white and goes perfectly with the Kelly green color of the stocking. )

While I'm glad that Christmas is gone this year, it occurred to me that I should write down a few highlights so I can look back in future years and remember a few things that might be easy to forget.

• Baking cookies has become a tradition for me. It allows me to give handmade gifts to my friends and spend a little time in the kitchen. This year, the treat boxes featured chocolate chip cookies, orange cranberry cookies, candy cane cookies, peanut butter cups and chocolate-covered marshmallows.

• I gave a duffel bag to my brother, who is commuting to San Diego for work these days. He loves it but sometimes I miss him.

• We also gave a duffel bag to T's sister, who will be spending several weeks in Mexico this spring. She is excited; her mom and boyfriend are not so much.

• We gave a new bedspread to my sister and her new husband. They were just married a few weeks ago and they are doing new couple things like buying King-sized beds and moving into a house just for the two of them. They are wildly cute and I like how newlyweddy they are.

• These newlyweds have also brought a little joy to our family in the form of a Pomeranian puppy. Pippy is tiny, fluffy and endlessly adorable. She wears little dresses and shirts that say, "Meet me under the mistletoe." Lots of entertainment for the whole family.

• I received so many gifts that I loved I almost don't know where to start. My mother-in-law made me a denim apron that ties at the waist, a crocheted scarf that is just the right color of red and a skirt with a little flower on the front. So much time spent on these gifts; I can tell they were made with love. I received a number of cooking and sewing accessories -- I guess I can report that I have some actual hobbies now. I'm excited to try out my new toys.

• T and I...well.....we got each other the same thing. And not just the same CD that we both like. But a custom-made plush toy representing a character in the book that we are writing together. We both worked on it secretly for weeks, hoping to surprise the other with such a unique and unexpected gift. But when you share a brain you tend to come up with the same ideas. I love that we now have two of these, and a story to boot.

So now our house is filled with gifts, random plates of cookies and treats, and wrapping paper shards. I plan to clean it all up today. The decorations won't come down just yet, but soon we'll be putting all this stuff in the attic. Can't wait until next year.