a confession

photo by Annika: our nutcracker collection, in order of height

It is now January 16th and all of our Christmas decorations, including the tree, are still up. We put up the tree and all the holiday decor back in November, just after Thanksgiving. And... they're... still... here.

My husband, David, is a Christmas elf, disguised as a tall drink of water. He wears a Santa hat to do his Christmas shopping. He loves everything about Christmas, especially the decorations. And once they're up, he cannot bear to see them come down. Like moths to a flame, the children fly blindly to his defense on this topic. I am now hearing talk about how cool it will be to hang hearts on the needle-free frasier for Valentine's Day and colored eggs for Easter. They assure me that the dried up tree is in no way a fire hazard. 

Because I fancy myself "in charge" around here, in years past I ignored their desperate pleas to keep that Christmas train rolling right through to the Superbowl. Usually I can be found dismantling the tree at a reasonable time, just after New Year's Day. I do really love Christmas and all the trimmings. I am the one who does the baking, makes the lists, sends the cards, plans the parties, buys/makes/lovingly cares for the decorations. I am the one who puts them up and takes them down. Until now. I have given up, given in. I made one generous offer, last weekend, to take down the tree and box up the ornaments free of charge. If my friendly offer was refused, Daddy would have to be the one to put the holiday stuff away. He would have to carefully pack all those sweet little delicate glass ornaments in tissue paper. Box up the nutcrackers, stars, linens and nativity scenes. Haul them all up to the attic. That sounds like a lot of work to me. My kind offer was rejected without a second thought.

Here's the rub. While I think the holidays are great (and exhausting), I also have a very big thing for the New Year. A fresh, clean snow-white slate for me. What's done is done and possibilities for what's to come are endless and thrilling. The tree comes down, the living space is crisp once again; I wear aqua, chartreuse and flamingo pink. I am renewed and refreshed, ready to embrace life with impressive vigor. 

This year, my clean slate will have to be held in my heart and and honored in some new, different way, perhaps through this blog. On the bright side, I will have so much  more time to embrace 2009 now that I don't have to put the stuff away. And those twinkling lights are actually very pretty.