Thursday, January 3, 2013

Three Things To Do After the Holidays

One thing I know from my employment in the media world is that lists get readers. That's why they're ubiquitous. And frequently gimmicky.

I debated even doing this post for that reason. When I sat down to write I even tried to expand it to five or ten or more, to make it some all encompassing list of things to do after the holidays. I stopped myself.   Partly because I'm lazy. Partly because I don't do all those things, especially if they have to do with resolutions or organization.

Honestly, these are the three things I do religiously every first week of January. Two are kitchen related. I do sometimes wish the list also included "a thorough dusting" but I'd just be lying to you.

1. Clean the refrigerator



You just KNOW there's a container of fuzzy green beans at the very back from Thanksgiving. Anyway, there was at my house. With all the extra cooking and company, it's easy for the whole icebox to get out of hand. I always want a fresh start in January.

2. Wash the potholders




This also comes along with all the extra cooking and baking during the holidays. I know a few scrupulous people that wash their potholders weekly, but I'm not one of them unless one gets particularly messy. After Christmas, they all go in the wash. In the interest of artificial blog beauty and showing off, the ones pictured are not my floury, scuzzy-looking ones, but new ones hand made by my mother (top) and my sister (bottom) as Christmas gifts. I'm glad my family is talented!

3. Repair Christmas ornaments



If you keep Christmas ornaments forever like I do, you're bound to have a few mishaps here and there. There always seems to be more time to fix ornaments after the holidays rather than during. I find it to be contemplative work; I think about the repair of items we love, and why we love them. In the photo above, a stained glass ornament given to me by a pen pal years ago had a dried rosebud that finally aged to the point of shattering into dust. I'll be replacing it with a rosebud that I dried from a bouquet that Mr. Man gave me. I like that the ornament will now hold even more sentimental value because of it.

What's at the top of your January list?

4 comments:

  1. We just did a big cleaning and holiday clean-out session here....we took down all of the holiday decorations and dusted and vacuumed and cleaned like the dickens! It's the first time we've ever done that before and it made me feel kinda good to start off the new year with a clean house!

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  2. Laura, I really love your blog. I don't read it every week, but I always go back and "catch up" on the posts. And, the fact that you are Dy's sister and a journalist -- jus icing on the cake!

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    1. Thanks, Regina. Stop by as often as you like and stay for as long as you want. That goes for the "real" doorstep too! :)

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