These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Holiday's Over, Time to Get Busy!!

I began the un-decorating process last night. I really don't like doing that, but I suppose no one does. Is there anyone reading this who actually likes taking down all the holiday decorations? If so, be sure to say so in a comment so we can all point at you and gasp!

How do you undress the tree and/or room? I like to be organized about it. I take down all the (fill in the blank) and put them together on a table, then find the right box(es) for each group and stow them. Some people take everything down at once, but that confuses the issue for me because you have to have all the storage boxes out at once. Too much clutter!

Last night I took down several groups of things and organized them on a card table. I didn't have the boxes inside because it was too cold to go get them. They are just on the deck, but I didn't feel like dragging them in and bringing the cold air with them. I'll do that today. I'm guessing that I have about half of the tree denuded. LOL! Isn't that a great word?? I also took down all the stockings and international Santas and have them in chairs, ready to box up. I should be able to finish it today.

I always have a mixed bag of emotions about this process. I enjoy looking at the decorations individually once more before the are closed up, sealed and stored for the next eleven months. There is also a little sadness at the process.

While I'm doing this, I'm usually pondering over the memories the ornaments inspire. That can be a mixed bag, too, but it is usually a nice process. Since I weeded out the collection this year there is not a lot that brings sad memories. I remember years that I bawled during the whole process because the memories that were attached to certain ornaments were just extremely difficult to deal with. It usually had to do with a family member who was no longer with us. I like having a "clean start," as I do this year.

When I finish the storage of the Christmas things, I have another huge task ahead of me. I've decided to do some furniture rearranging of pretty large proportions. I'm switching some furniture between the guest room and my office. I've been trying to work out a good layout that would be more functional, and a couple weeks ago it finally hit me. I measured the two room, all the furniture, made a computer model and began moving "mock furniture" around. When I realized what I could do, I was so excited. I knew I had to wait until after the holidays to get into it, and now I can!

I will wind up with all of my tools and work spaces for crafts and art in the office, and the guest room will double as a library. To do this, I have to take all the books out of two large barrister book cases and move them to the other room, then reload the books. I also have to unload all my tools from a jeweler's bench and move it into the office. All three pieces of furniture are H.E.A.V.Y. Thank goodness for furniture dollies!

I'm making a work table out of the plywood and folding table legs that I used for the garage sale. I'm cutting the plywood to the size I want, doubling it for strength. Once it is together, I will cover it with some sort of material (such as contact paper) or sand and paint it to provide a smooth surface and avoid getting splinters as I work there. It will be good to have a work surface for the photography and or other crafts and art I will be working on.

While I'm moving the furniture around I will have the books, tools, and any other loose stuff in the living room. Ick. I hate having a mess, especially right in front of the door, but it is the only logical thing to do. It will make the process easier if I don't have to jockey the heavy furniture around piles of books against a wall, because those piles always take up more room on the floor than they do in the shelves.

After all this is done, I'm going to build some selves in the office. I have a nook that is about three feet wide and a little over two feet deep. I have my file cabinets there with a TV on top. By building shelves in the top of that space, it will allow me to get rid of a cheap bookshelf that has my photo albums and free up another few feet of space.

Hmmm. I think I may be able to blog again in about March. LOL! No, I will not avoid blogging. I do tasks such as this at a reasonable pace these days. I don't care to physically overdo it, and perhaps hurt myself. I'll do a little at a time, and it will be alright.

Hmmmm, again. I think I'd better get out of bed and get busy!!

Life is beautiful!!!

21 comments:

  1. I took down the decorations on New Years Day. It is a bittersweet process. I do like to have everything all clean again but it means the season is over.

    I have been working at cleaning out and purging as well. Yesterday I spent my day in my craft room. The first half playing, the second organzing.

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  2. Lovely post Lynilu. I find the whole process daunting...the house looks naked after being all dressed up, yet I don't like my house to be "cluttered". I take everything off and put it all on the dining room table so we can get the tree outside. Then I bring up a few boxes at a time and begin sorting, storing, etc. Not a job I love but it must be done.

    I'm also doing some re-arranging and re-decorating..it seems a perfect time!!

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  3. Cheeky, yeah, it seems final, doesn't it? Next year seems SO far away!

    That "first half" is a necessary part. I have to play and remember what it is all about before I can organize and thin out. So you have a written excuse from Lynilu!! LOL!

    Sherry, I know. It is hard to make the change. But I think it feels good, too, to have the familiar back in its place. Or in its new, rearranged place! LOL!

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  4. Taking them down is not nearly as much fun as putting them up. It's as Cheeky says, bittersweet.
    We've still Santa on the front door and the bookshelf in the entranceway to un-decorate but that is it. Then I still have to put Madison's crap, er toys fully away.

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  5. Patti, it is always harder to do this end of it. Yet, I find a certain comfort in returning to "normal." Whatever THAT is!!

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  6. I don't think taking the decorations down is nearly as fun as putting them up. I like to keep everything organized too and for me it takes twice as long to get it all put away. But guess what? Next year i know where everything is.

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  7. I think I may be able to blog again in about March.

    NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

    I hate the process of taking down the decorations, too. We're getting all that done (hopefully) on Saturday. It's not a pretty thing around here because I want help, but nobody does it the way I think they should do it and then I end up shooing everyone away and doing it myself, all the while groaning and complaining about the uselessness of these people. OY!

    Good luck with your furniture moving and all that. I want to turn my sitting room into my writing office and I think I may start that project in a few weeks. Kind of exciting!!

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  8. Mine are coming down tomorrow as well and I am glad to get back to normal. I move things and put them away when the decorations come out, and then have to remember where I put them. Everything will be back in place tomorrow. Please be careful moving the furniture around. It might not be as easy as it sounds.
    Take it easy woman LOL.

    Ruth in Canada

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  9. Ok, you can point and laugh - I actually like taking them down. It's a control thing or something...I light a lemon candle (no NOT a Christmas scent!) and clean as I put things away. It's just such a great feeling once it's all done.

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  10. Hey, Daisy! You're right, it isn't as much fun, for sure, but there is a certain orderliness about it that is soothing to me. I guess it is the act of getting back to normal that feels good. Whatever, it has a mix of emotions with it.

    LOL at you, Jen!! You know very well that I couldn't stay away from the computer that long!!

    I'm also laughing at your description of your, uhmmm, control issues! But I understand because, honestly, if things aren't put away right, the breakage risk is increased and space isn't well used. When you're trying to store that much, you have to be space-thrifty.

    I am excited about rearranging. I think I will like it and it will look better.It is always fun to revitalize with a new"furniture footprint."

    Ruth, you're echoing what I said above ... it is nice to return to normal. LOL, whatever "normal" is!! You know what I do about the things I take down during decorating? I put them in one of the Christmas storage boxes. That way, they are wrapped in the packing and safe, AND I know exactly where they are!

    I'll be careful with the moving. I'll get help with the heavy pieces. If I were moving them across the room it wouldn't be a big deal, but I have to move them through doorways, down a hall, around corners, and with furniture as heavy as those, I don't want to be stupid!

    Oh, Julie, I won't point and laugh! I get it, too. In some ways I miss the frivolity of the Christmas decorations, but I also tire of them by this time. Let's face it, they may be beautiful, but they aren't the things we choose to live with as are the things with which we decorate our homes. I usually burn some incense, and you're right, it feels good to have the house clean, smelling nice, and the familiar wrapped around us like a bug, lovely hug!

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  11. I hate taking down the Christmas decorations. I did a little bit of it yesterday, but the trees arre still up. I always give myself to Jan. 6--I think that's when Epiphany is; the end of the season; lol--but I better get to work. I guess that's what I'll be doing this weekend. I DO, though, like rearranging and redecorating a bit.

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  12. I still have my tree up.

    Do you want to come to Las Cruces and organize my little house on wheels?

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  13. Cheryl, I hate to admit that I haven't done any more. I got sidetracked with some out-of-the-house things, and I haven't corralled myself yet! I will soon!

    Now Pepper, I could take down the tree, but I don't think I can rearrange your furniture! Well, perhaps I could, but you'd have strange gaping holes in your home!!

    :D

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  14. Lynilu,
    You get an amazing amount of things done. I think you do more in one week than I do all year :)

    I have a thing about organization, and tend to put things away (or get rid of them) so I have little clutter. (unless you count the knick-knacks on my book shelves :)

    Decemebr 31st, all the xmas ornaments went back in their boxes to be stored in the closet under the hall until next year.

    Fresh plants like ferns and orchids and daffodil bulbs in pots make the place look seamlessly welcoming for the new season.

    And the xmas lights were taken down outside on Dec. 29th

    Of course, in the interests of honesty, I have someone do it for me. My claim is that by hiring them, I am contributing to the economy :)

    I thnak God each morning for my housekeeper :)

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  15. Lord that sounnds obnoxious. But it's true, and should I have lied - or just kept my mouth shut ? a dilemna. I may post about it...

    Hope all is well with you, glad you are pacing yourself :)

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  16. I did not decorate so I have nothing to take down! But good for you and the 'fresh start' theory. Why hang onto things that only re-hash pain and loss?

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  17. love taking the stuff down.
    (point and laugh)
    then saddened by it all.
    (retract - uh huh)
    the house looks naked for a day.

    i feel bad for the christmas tree.
    seriously.
    (does that make me weird?)

    crap is still hanging on the house though.
    (uh, actually off the house now)

    hopefully that'll make it down before easter.
    (and not talking blown down but rather taken down)

    obviously, that's not my job.
    (should i mention they didn't make it up until dec 23rd?)

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  18. I agree with Sherry-the house seems naked without it. We had to rearrange the house to accommodate the tree and decorations, and we thought today we might leave it rearranged-but without the tree. We will take all that stuff down in the end of January.

    I wish we had another holiday that we could put up pretty things and such. Though my mother is a "collector" of mad proportions, and each season looked like it threw up in our home-so in true fashion, I do everything to NOT be like her. We are minimalist . .except for the Classic Pooh and elephant paraphernalia . . .

    sound's like you have a lot to keep you busy. Can't wait to hear more about it.

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  19. Yup, still have Christmas everywhere. But seeing as how Jonah made taking the tree down his new year's resolution, I feel like I can't really interfere. I MIGHT still have a tree come July!

    P.S. My meme will be up tomorrow!

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  20. Annie, Do I dare admit that it's not that I do so much, but that I write well!! LOL! Since I wrote this post, I haven't touched the Christmas stuff!! But I will tomorrow. I have to!

    I was side-tracked because the end of month work at the Gallery was ready, so I needed to go over everything so the artists could be paid for their sales. they are funny like that ... they want to b

    Now forgive my ignorance, but why should you lie or hush up? It is what it is, right? So? Be happy about your blessings!

    Wow, DMB, aren't you lucky??? I wonder why we are so crazy about the extensive decorating? Whatever, I think we should be more willing to shed the burdensome ties that keep us from moving on and finding what is happy in our lives.

    Cameo, of course you're weird, but what does that have to do with the tree?? :D LOL!! Sorry, I couldn't resist that!! As much as the interior of the house is a pain to take down and store, the outside is worse, I think. Since I have to do it all, I'm actually fortunate that I ran out of time and only did a little bit outside this year!! It'll probably take just 15 minutes to take down and pack away!!

    Beans, I have to rearrange, too, and in doing it I found an arrangement that I really like. I'll only have to move a wooden rocker in the living room, and it will be as it should. YAY!! So you have Pooh and elephants for Christmas? Ah-ha! I'm trying to imagine that! Quite interesting, for sure!

    I have decorations for several holidays, Easter, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and a little for the 4th of July. But those collections are far, far more modest than the Christmas ones.

    Stay tuned!

    Hi, Catherine. Aww, Jonah is taking down the tree. How sweet! And if it is still up in July, tie red, while and blue bows on it and call it an Independence tree!!

    I'll check your blog tomorrow!!

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  21. No, the pooh and elephants is the decor for the rest of the year .. Christmas is a mish mosh of things . . that would be very funny to have only pooh and elephants for Christmas though. i should suggest it . . .

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If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!