The Nativities are gone and winter decorations and collections of dishes take their place on the shelves in my kitchen.
As I phase out the Christmas decorations, I need to remind myself that I am not the villain of the house for taking down all the joy. It always makes us sad to see them go.
Here are the things I am telling myself,
The decorations will be back again. They are special partly because they are a novelty.
I need to simplify my lines of sight and reduce the number of objects requiring attention. It’s time for me to hibernate, read, sew, and be cozy for a few months without all the extras. It’s okay to need a break.
I love the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Although the silence was painful after our family left, I have begun to order my thoughts about the past year, journaling, reading notes, reviewing my planner, and organizing myself for the new year.
I love reflecting on questions like these during the quiet hours. I will include a few of my answers, too.
What are the lessons from 2025?
God can fix things so quickly, so completely, and so elegantly.
I have true friends on whom I can call when I need help.
I can trust God’s wisdom when my trials don’t go away.
What books and people did I keep close to me?
Book List Here, with my favorites in bold. I read the Doctrine and Covenants the most because I was teaching it.
People: my family, a few close friends.
What do I want to remember?
How Tim and Queenie looked in the sealing room at the temple on their wedding day.
Playing with our grandson in the backyard and at the beach.
How have I grown?
I trust God a bit more.
What were some triumphs?
Wedding luncheon for Tim.
A few special moments during lessons I taught in church.
How did the Savior show up in my life?
In word: the scriptures, words of prophets, impressions during prayer and in the House of the Lord.
In power: to endure challenges.
In music: during my most challenging moments, good music came to my mind. (Shalom by Dan Forrest; Slow Down, sung by Sissel; Seek the Lord by my mom, in her voice; I Want to Be Strong, a song we sang at Girls Camp 30+ years ago.)
Through people who listened to me and loved me.
In fresh ideas
In chastening: He helped me change my thinking. Often.
In January, I planned my year, assigning important tasks for specific months. My plans are often thwarted, but I continue to make them because vision is important.
There will always be obstacles, but I want to have a purpose and direction throughout the year. It doesn’t matter if some things don’t happen on schedule or lesser things don’t happen at all.
I finished a “June” project this week. Good job, me, because it is a Christmas gift!
I am sick in bed today with a humidifier to soothe my cough and ease congestion. The gifts I planned to wrap in November sit beneath my desk beside the bed, not yet wrapped, but at least they are collected. I choose to think of it as a testament that I tried, and planning ahead helped me to be prepared for this illness in December.
The best part of each day lately is when Richard and I sit down to watch an annual family Christmas video. We have made these videos since 2003, so if we want to see them all before Christmas, we begin early. They feature our kids’ performances, piano pieces, and sometimes lip syncs to Christmas songs. They end with a slideshow of the year’s photos put to music. They were originally intended for the grandparents, but as the years pass, they probably bring the most delight to us.
We are working on the 2025 installment. There is always a story to tell about family.
This is a figure I saw this weekend of the number of extra hours of labor that women take on during Christmas time. This seems accurate to me.
I have never wanted to cultivate resentment about the effort it takes to create some extra Christmas magic. When the kids were younger, this meant I tried not to hurry them as we created simple traditions. When they were teens, the magic came from devoting our lives to support their dance and musical performances. When our adult children can’t be with us, I adjust my expectations and send packages.
Whatever is required of us this Christmas, I know that we can take inspiration from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. He showed us how to love and serve.
This blog is no longer about the day to day things, but sometimes it helps me to do a review of the week to see where we have been and where we are headed. Here is how we spent our evenings last week.
Monday: We attended the high school musical, Cinderella to support three young men that we know. One was in the orchestra pit and two were on stage.
Tuesday: Richard worked from home and I attended a Relief Society dinner. I prepared rolls, and for the first time in 13 years of dinners in this ward, I went home with an empty container. You can’t imagine how this feels for me after so many rejections. 😂
Wednesday: I prepared 4 batches of pizza dough for a young men activity at another home where Richard was in charge of pizza night. He shopped for all the ingredients and had quite an array for the boys to make personal pizzas. They had fun.
Thursday: Richard worked, and I probably worked on gifts. I had plans fall through to visit a friend.
Friday: Date to Zao for dinner and then a big Costco trip.
Saturday: We watched the BYU football game and I worked on Christmas card assembly.
Sunday: I finished our Christmas card assembly and Richard called his mom.
I am holding back panic about the demands for this coming week. I will just follow the well-worn plan for Thanksgiving and try to stay steady as I handle some extra things on the to do list.
Just look at this tiny gift! Its box is the size of a small matchbox. A friend left this for me on my porch along with some Halloween treats. My primary love language is not gifts* but perhaps there is an exception: tiny things! 🧡
*I cherish gifts, but I don’t dream of them or require them to know that I am loved.
My friend P. moved away this year and I finally made it across the valley to visit her with another friend. There are many things I love about P., and one of them is how fully she celebrates holidays. Her small space was decorated for Halloween and she was wearing Halloween socks and a cute sweatshirt. For lots of reasons, my heart ached when we said goodbye.
