Surviving the after Holiday Blues
The holidays are over and a new year has begun. For some of us January is a difficult month. We have had to gracefully say goodbye to parties and celebrations that lasted nearly 3 months. The company is gone and we have put away the last of our Christmas decorations. I held onto my Fraser fir for as long as I could. Finally on January 9th I said my goodbyes as I took down her pretty ornaments and lights and dragged her outside to the cold weather to decorate my front yard. After vacuuming a million pine needles and rearranging my house, sadness kicked in. I had the holiday blues. Now what? After New Years Eve there art no more holidays worth celebrating until February 14th.This is quite a bit of down time. For me the holiday blues actually began after the last gift was opened on Christmas Day. After that last gift opening, Christmas was officially over for me. It reminds me of when I was a teenager. I’d go to this awesome party and meet my new potential boyfriend. It was one of those parties that always stood out in my mind. Then a couple of weeks later you go to another party, and there’s hardly anyone one there. And as far as any potential boyfriend –the only boy’s there surely don’t catch my eye. The party stinks and I end up leaving early only to feel let down.
That’s what the holiday blues feel like-a let down. You had one big party for a few weeks and now there’s nothing. There’s nothing to celebrate and no parties to attend. The Christmas music has stopped and Santa Claus is back home at the North Pole till next year. But through it all the queen has a plan. How can I survive the boredom of January without going insane? Here’s the plan I came up with while surfing the net one day. I realized that there was nothing I could do but sadly bid farewell to the holidays. But the one thing I could do was redecorate my house. I could make my living room come alive and add some sparkle to my kitchen-and not spend a fortune.
So I surfed eBay for some deals on slip covers for my living room couch and chair. For less than 100.00 I was able to find brand new charming slipcovers in a rustic French design. Now my living room will look like a new room and I spent less than 100.00 I also saw a snowman cookie jar for my kitchen for 8.00-another great bargain. The winters here last until April so I thought a snowman cookie jar would look cute as part of my kitchen décor. Okay, I must admit that by now I am feeling better. So shopping does help! I also put in an order to Bath and Body works and stocked up on wallflowers and bath products. With their semi-annual sale going on I couldn’t go wrong!
And here’s another pointer: you don’t have to let go of Christmas in one shot. You can let go slowly-a little bit each day. Each day I put something away-one decoration at a time. When I was ready-I took down my fabulous tree. There are still a few stragglers, but in time-I’ll put them away too. See there’s the thing...we all let go in our own way and in our own time. Some of us take everything down the day after Christmas, while others of us hold on a little bit longer. We all deal with it in our own way. For me, letting go slowing seems to work. And shopping on eBay also helps-a great deal! Not to mention those fabulous deals Bath and Body Works are having!
Then there are snow days! We have been snowed in for 5 days. Take a sled and go sledding! Make some hot chocolate and watch a good movie. Go outside and make snow angels with your kids. Or sit down and write a story about surviving the after holiday blues, like I just did. I am Mrs. Chris Kringle. And if I can get over the hump-anyone can. Now what are you waiting for? If you live where there’s snow (and all but 2 states have had plenty of it!)go outside and play! Do some fun online shopping! Call an old friend and have a blast from the past. Before we know it, the holidays will roll around again and we’ll be repeating everything all over! As for this queen, she’s going to go check her back door. Maybe there’s a package waiting for her-just maybe!