By Staff
Well the holidays are finally over and it is time to pack up all that extra wrapping paper, bought on sale at less than 50 percent off.
Ornaments are returned to the boxes with the little spacers to keep them safe and maybe I will take down the wreath that hung on my bathroom door all last year.
I needed to rewrap the last few gifts, for our Christmas with Roger's children and grandchildren. The cats decided those gifts which were still piled up on the floor after Christmas were up for grabs. All those curly ribbon pieces will take months to find under the furniture.
With so many divorces in families these days, children and grandchildren are subject to many holiday gatherings. That may mean more gifts, but the continual traveling to different parties takes it toll on everyone.
A new year always brings with it the fact we failed to accomplish all those resolutions we made the previous Jan. 1.
I haven't gotten rid of as much junk as I had hoped. Though I did go through some closets and give away clothes which no longer fit, or weren't ever worn, there are still drawers so full they can hardly open and no space on the closet rod.
I was the recipient of clothes from three others who were cleaning their own closets.
There are still boxes stored away which haven't been touched for years. What's in them I have no idea.
I admit I haven't cleaned the house as often as I should or organized my cupboards. Maybe the new plastic bag holder I got for Christmas will help under the sink, where I stuff every new bag which comes in.
My sewing room is still not useable, as I never completely unpacked and filled the bins and containers which were supposed to put it in tip top shape.
Instead, my serger has taken over the dining room table and pieces of fleece tumble off a chair onto the floor.
My Christmas cards never got sent or even written and now I would rather delve into the bag of books a friend's mother gave me.
It seems the only resolution I kept was to take some time for myself and relax at night. Too often that meant watching the many CSI shows and going to bed early.
A press release I got from The Housekeeping Channel www.housekeepingchannel.com, on how to get your children to clean their room made me realize I could use the same techniques myself, to keep up my rooms. The part that struck home was when we tell a child to "clean your room" it is like tells ourselves to clean the garage or basement. It is just too overwhelming.
Often, I think that is why we don't start a job, because we don't look at it in pieces, instead of as a whole.
Instead of attempting to do everything all at one time, if we do a few things, eventually everything would get done.
It is just like dieting. We expect to be so good and not eat anything we shouldn't. After a day or two, if we slip, we give up. Instead, it is a gradual process. We didn't gain all that weight at once, so it won't come off in a day or two. Which leads me into my perpetual New Year's resolution.
I have friends who are trying to stop smoking and I know they are going through the same problems.
Little baby steps, that's all it takes, one box or one pound at a time.