What Goes Up Must Come Down

We left the house for our San Francisco/Las Vegas adventure in a flurry of activity: packing, arranging for schnauzer care, and preparing Goldie for yet another long road trip. But we didn't have time to pack away any of our Christmas decorations before we left, so when I walked back into our house on our arrival home, I was greeted with all the trappings of the holiday.

Which was fine, I guess. At least the house was tidy and still smelled faintly of my apple cider - scented candles in the Christmas centerpieces. And there were a few leftovers: a couple slices of fudge tucked away in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator; a few sugar cookies in the cookie jar and lots of candy canes still hanging on the tree.

But all good things must come to an end, even temporarily, so my latest task is to summon the determination and energy to begin the de-holiday-ing of the house. It's going to take awhile.

It's always so much fun to put up all of my favorite decorations. I love that moment when the tree is decorated, the nativity scene is in place, and all of the storage boxes and wrappings are hidden away in the attic. I turn on the fireplace and sit in front of the firelight quietly -- just waiting for the Christmas season to truly arrive. Ahhh.

But. What goes up must come down, and so it's that time....I've been less frugal with my energy stores over the past week with our galavanting around Nevada and California, so I'm going to have to take my time and approach this big project slowly.

Some people have periods of sadness during the holidays, but I find myself feeling a little blue after all the celebrations are over, especially this year. After my previous Christmases which were pre-rituximab, I recall enjoying the holidays but also remember feeling a sense of relief that they were over. But this year? After we closed the door on Christmas day when the last of our guests headed home, I turned to John and told him that I wanted to do it all over again.

What fun.

It's not nearly so much fun dragging out the packing boxes and searching for each ornament on the tree. And I can tell already that my rituximab energy may have peaked and is now on the slow decline. If I behave myself and pace myself during this task, I'll probably get through everything without avoiding a crash.

Wish me luck.