The Throw Away Week

The week between December 25th and January 1st is, for many people, a throw-away week. There are no parties, no presents, no family get togethers; they have finished. For them, it is a week to put away the decorations and reminders of Christmas. It is a week to return unwanted-wrong sized-bad color gifts. It is a week to sort and shuffle and organize and throw away. Well, no wonder they dread the holidays. They have spent all their time getting ready and then they forget what they got ready for!

>For us, it has been a quiet week with time to enjoy the house decorations, sing more carols and read more books.
>We watched a few fireworks and enjoyed our front porch on few balmy evenings before the chill hit.
>We shopped a little, listened to the torrents of rain which eased the drought a little, and prepared for the drop in temperatures which was NOT a little.
>We delivered Lucy's new playhouse to her delicious squeals of delight while it was still on the truck; "It's my HOUSE."
>We sadly helped some neighbors move from their much-loved house to another town.
>We have quietly celebrated the New Year with the appropriate black-eyed peas and leafy greens.
>We gave some thought to what the New Year will bring -- perhaps a painting and better blogging, a couple of new babies in February, some family parties, a score of milestones, maybe a few ladies dancing, lords a-leaping, maids a-milking . .
>We have taken the time to observe and enjoy and absorb the joy.

And that is not a week which should be thrown-away.

AAB