And then there's January

I feel a little “January” today. My house is a wreck from the unfurling of all the Christmas stuff we brought back from our family trek across the country. My laundry is somewhere between dirty and clean. The cookies, what’s left of them, all taste like each other because they ended up in the same tin and they are destined for the trash, um, soon.
All the Christmas decor is still up and glaring at me to get back into the boxes, although I usually wait until Epiphany, so I am not in a huge hurry on that. But I don’t really want to leave the holidays. I want to wallow in them. Roll around in the paper and ribbon. Feel the excitement of my children, play with the new toys, revel in the love of family and good meals and good times.

I got something for Christmas that I have wished for every year for the last nine years--new family portraits. I mean everyone, my parents, who are in their late 80‘s, all my sisters and their families, AND on a different day, all of my husband’s family, siblings and kids. This isn’t easy considering that some of us travel from far away, some of us have to make adjustments to work schedules, some of us are on break from college life and might enjoy sleeping in... I am so grateful to everyone who lit the sparks in each family to get this monumental task done. The last time my family sat for a photo was 17 years ago, long before our two children were born. There was much grumbling from many directions, but we got together, laughed a ton, got it done and then celebrated with a nice dinner. I could do without all the gifting and hype of the holidays but I could never do without that feeling of warmth and comfort of our families. I know not everyone is blessed with this Norman Rockwellian aura and, believe me, we have our bumps and plenty of drama. As I sit in the quiet of my house, with the kids back in school already, a thousand miles from all that love, but I still feel it, and I want to hold on to it before I rush into the new year. So maybe I’ll go pour a glass of milk and down a few more of those cookies... Happy New Year to you!