Well, these holidays are over, except for New Year's Day. I have to say that we do very little ourselves to welcome in a New Year. We don't watch a special movie and generally don't do anything too special for meals. We don't sit up to all hours on New Year's Eve, either. I do try and treat it as a holiday and won't work on the day of New Year's, but it's really just a day 'off' in the midst of a rather ordinary week for us.
That's not to say I'm not New Year minded. I love the whole fresh start aspect of a New Year, and the fact that we are fully into winter, which I can't claim as a favorite season but is a favored one all the same. As I get older, I find more and more that I enjoy ALL the seasons for different reasons. Once my initial desire to clean, organize and declutter is past, I simply enjoy the restful nature of winter and the heartier meals the season affords. Truth be told, I'm never happier than in soup season.
Gosh but I'm all chatter today. Let's get busy and plan this week!
1. Do the banking if I haven't already done it at this point. I need to make a deposit and cash our Christmas checks. I hope to have this done already before we reach this week, but we'll see how it goes.
2. Clean and sort, restock, declutter the kitchen. Last month I bought myself a handheld vacuum, which should make cleaning out the cabinets and drawers much easier. Nothing is too bad really in the room except perhaps the stove which needs a really good surface cleaning. Perhaps I'll even tackle the fridge while it's not so very full. I want to mop the floors since I didn't get it done prior to Christmas baking (and just as well!). I'd also like to restock all the spices, canisters, etc.
This sounds like a lot. I plan to do this over a period of days not just in one day, and if carries over into next week as well, so be it. I'm not in a big hurry, but I do feel that New Year push to get started on the deeper cleaning.
3. Remove Christmas. In the end, I didn't put out much this year, so this won't take too much time.
4. Freshen the room for winter. I'll try to find something pretty and fresh to put out for the winter months. I enjoyed my moody autumn look but for winter I'd like something different. I've already changed the velvet pillow covers from rust to Navy Blue. It's definitely time to put out throws and such to make the room cozier.
5. Pull a stack of books for January reading. I never did read my final book from November and didn't read a single one for December reading. However, this month I want to begin my year with a stack of books ready by my chair. One of those will be a classic. I have several in the house which I'll admit I've never read.
6. Get my checkbook ready for January.
7. Get Bess's birthday card ready to deliver.
8. Get some necessary shopping done. I'm looking for a new perfume and it's time to restock on some basic clothing necessities.
9. Relax. It is the final holiday week of the year after all!
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5 comments:
I find such joy in having a list of things that need doing in my home, either on paper or in my head. I guess it's a way to have control in a world that seems so often out of control.
It is always interesting to see how you organize your time, and yet make time for yourself. Blessing the house is necessary but so is blessing oneself. I agree with Miss Anne's comment: joy in listing what needs to be done and enjoying doing chores that gives us a sense of control in our lives, in a world that seems to have gone mad at times. Peace and joy. Wishing you and yours a splendid 2025!
Anne, I love to make lists. I have all sorts that run through each season, from a list of things I want to make sure to do in each room, to things I want to eat (meals to make), lists of shopping I need to do (food, clothes, household items) and things I want to do in the yard. I do more making lists than I do work, lol.
Donna, this is something that Granny taught me by example. She worked hard from early morning until lunchtime every day. After lunch she'd shower, set her hair and then do quiet work all afternoon until it was time to make supper. By the time Granddaddy was in from work, her hair had been combed out and she was still fresh looking. In her 'quiet work' Granny was prone to do things for herself, like sewing, or watching her favorite soaps, listening to music or even reading. It was one of the best examples of working hard and getting things done but not running yourself into the ground.
We don't do anything "holiday" for NYE either but we certainly cherish the day off. I spent some time on Saturday redoing my baking cabinet. It's an awful cavern of a corner cabinet with a too-small lazy Susan we installed but nothing else. So I was able to find some on-sale metal shelves that just fit on either side and then I replaced my sugar and flour canisters with some that are great for my space and have handles and only cost $7.44 each from Walmart. The ones I replaced were just as cheap, have lasted me at least 10 years and it was just time to get rid of them. I'm happy with how it turned out. I only had one thing to throw out and that was a big jar of Splenda we haven't used in ages.
My plan for New Years Day is to take down Christmas decorations in the Spare Oom. I plan to declutter some more in my stored stuff and pare down even more to only what I absolutely love. I know one rather large bulky item I will be donating to the thrift store. I have loved having the lights and tree and decorations up in my little sanctuary but I'm looking forward to how much more open it will look without it. That's always a bonus of putting it away.
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