I Heart This Stuff

Now that the house is completely de-Christmas-ed, yes it took quite awhile, but who cares....

Anyway. Things were looking pretty bare in here. I was lying on the couch a few days ago wondering what things I should drag down from the attic to replace all the holiday junk decor. I knew that typically, I would go looking for my box of Valentine's day stuff and scatter hearts and pink and red junk decor around the house. Not as many things as for Christmas, of course, but a string of lights on my kitchen windowsill, and a few knick knacks, some coffee mugs, and then the box of appropriately heart-themed kitchen towels.

I love kitchen towels.

But as I lay there, I was having one of those moments when I just felt as if nothing was worth the effort. I had taken a shower that day, and putzed around the house a bit, and broke out into a sweat just from those simple exertions and so was flopped on the couch feeling sorry for myself.

John happened to come home from work right about then, and after our usual how-did-your-day-go exchange, I sighed and told him that I was going to forego the Valentine's junk decor this year.

It could be that I just imagined it, but I thought I saw a brief moment of slight disappointment cross his face.

"Sure, hon. Whatever you think," he said. And headed upstairs to change out of his work duds.

I thought about that while looking up at the living room ceiling from my couch perch. Did I really not have the energy to put a few little seasonal things around the house? Or did I just not want to bother?

Could be a little bit of both.

But it really hadn't occurred to me that in keeping up those little day to day things I was preserving just a bit of normalcy in our house. And that John might appreciate that. Goodness knows so many things are really not what we used to consider normal around here.

Well, gee. Thinking outside of my own little sphere of emotions? Now there's a concept......I guess I've been very focused on myself lately. Not without some legitimacy, after all, but still.

If putting out a few seasonal things makes our home look and feel like it always has - comfortable, and ours - well, then maybe it's worth the effort, I decided. For not just my sake but also my family's.

So today I went up to the storage room in the attic and noticed, not for the first time, how neatly everything was packed away and arranged in there. It's not my doing - never has been. But John is a genius about packing and maneuvering boxes of junk important seasonal decor into the most tidy and convenient manner possible. I felt ashamed at my earlier decision to abandon putting my hearts out on display when I saw the box marked Valentine's Day sitting squarely in front of me. It was so simple to just grab the thing and bring it downstairs.

I took my time and examined each little thing before deciding to put it out. What fun memories they all had. These name cards had been given to us when we attended a Valentine's Day dinner at church.

I've had these mugs forever, and I love their bright red color and the way they feel in my hands:

I wrap my breakable items in my seasonal kitchen towels, so when I unpacked my mugs, I also unfolded my towels:

I decided, as I had for Christmas, that I would only put out my absolute favorite things. And so I did.

Yes, I did end up back on the couch mopping perspiration, since before I could put those junk decorative items out I needed to clean and dust underneath first, y'all know how that goes.

After I was done, I felt tired but really good.

Finding the line between doing too much.........and too little is really hard sometimes, isn't it?