It's the New Year. Part of me feels as though I should be excited about the new prospects ahead. I wonder if that isn't from years of Madison Avenue selling me an idea that everything is new and possible. Sales of 75% shout excitedly from the television. I like that idea, though I would have liked it better before Christmas! A greater part of me feels kind of droopy. Perhaps looking down the barrel of an election year has zapped my enthusiasm. I  did  however enjoy the celebration dance my daughter's friend did when she heard that Obama had won the Iowa Democratic Caucus last night.  

View video from http://www.studio4kids.tv

I am not complaining though, I had a wonderful holiday. I enjoyed the holiday build-up by watching  Christmas flicks  for almost the entire month of December, despite the fact that most of my family members were sick of them by the 15th. Our Christmas tree outing was a success with the first tree. Thinking that was too easy, we threw back a beautiful 7 ft. Frazier fir and continued to search. Growing up my family waited till  Christmas Eve Day to find a tree. It generally took the entire day despite the penetrating cold of a Kansas December. It was a marathon that we prided ourselves on. Our feet and fingers were often numb by the time we found a tree & then we were more than ready to go home. Our success was always well earned; a great tree for a great price.( Even if it was dried out and we were exhausted.) Today all the trees look great thanks to the professional  tree trimming  that goes on before the trees are ever cut from the ground. We picked up the second tree... also perfect, paid for it, and were home within the hour. Did I feel guilty? Not on your life.

 Family came to visit and all went well.Frequent trips to and from the airport encountered nearly no traffic!!!  Friends came to visit, bearing bottles of wine, sharing food, conversation, and even musical entertainment by way of a derigidoo! Who knew!

And now  the girl is back in school, the husband is back at work, and I am left with a house full of decorations to stuff  away into a crowded little room. My college student  who slept in till 11:00  begins pitching in, taking down the bannister garlands....and leaving  them in dead little heaps on the floor. I trudge up the stairs  in search of storage containers. Soon she is sitting at the computer looking at photos and assures me she intends to put those heaps in boxes...later...well see....

 I remembered this little video that talks about extending the holidays. I am not sure I want to extend the holidays. They were fun, but exhausting. I think I am just tired.  I'll ease back into the routine  by writing again, doing laundry and intermittently putting away a few decorations. I'll put on some  good music, probably Dan Fogelberg in honor of him (not holiday) I am not one of these people who gets the job done in one feld swoop. Oh, I can do it that way, I just prefer to  adjust to the changes slowly. I will miss the cheery holiday poinsettias and the dream of snow(okay we get a little snow in Texas, but it is well behaved and gone by 1:00pm, definitely not like the snow of my youth... think: socked in for days!) Integrate old and new. Ease back into the routine.

The video has several good tips such as suggesting that you take a picture of the room so you know where  each of your decorations go next year & labeling your decorations before you put them away .  I guess I should have watched  the video before I got started.

 I couldn't remember  where I had  put all the decorations in years gone by, so I just found new places.  I think I do this every year. That may be why I can't remember where things "belong". When I went to the storage room today, I found boxes of decorations that we didn't even put out this Christmas, so perhaps it is time to get rid of some. (I'll put that on my to do list...perhaps for next summer)

Everyone was pretty healthy except the girl had a sinus infection. I put her on GrapeFruitSeed Extract and Quercitin, "God's gift to sinuses", and  she started sounding normal within a few days. I'll follow up with probiotics as Grapefruit Seed Extract is a natural antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-.fungal. It does kill off the good bacteria in your gut just like an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor. No matter what the cause of a sinus infection, many people find it helpful. I always appreciate not having to go to the doctor during the holidays and I am guessing you do too. During the winter months I always try to keep some on hand just for this kind of thing. The liquid doesn't taste great, but it is OK if you mix it with some orange juice or some other juice. It also comes in capsules if you just can't stomach  the liquid.

Quercitin is a great natural anti-inflammatory. It is good for allergies that often set one up for a sinus infection by reducing inflammation which helps drain the fluids that accumulate in sinuses and in ears. It is also great for injuries resulting in inflammation. My knee often bothers me around the holiday after standing and twisting in the kitchen all day. It feels tight and swollen on the inside. Sometimes it gets  visibly swollen.  I didn't wait for that to happen.  I took 1000mg of Quercitin every 4 hours and by the  middle of the second dose the feeling of inflammation had subsided and didn't return.

My friend suffers from "Cedar Fever" as many do around here. This year she started taking Quercitin prophylactically 500 mg/day and hasn't had the usual cedar allergies. In two weeks when the cedar will be worse, she says she will increase the dose to 1000mg. She may have to take that  every 4 hours too. The good news is it won't make you drowsy or dried out, and it does a fine job.

In retrospect, I come away from the holidays feeling that my family is healthy (partly because I got a jump on things early), wealthy (as in relationships with family and friends) and wise; in that I cut out a lot of things this year from the crush of Christmas tradition and  we didn't miss them: fewer cookies, less wheat in my baking( that's another blog), fewer decorations, less shopping (sorry, Madison Ave.) I am all for making the holidays less stressful.  I  would say the holidays were a success.

 I think I'll throw a taking-down-the-tree-party tonight.  We still have goodies to get rid of  and eggnog. A little nog always helps the tree (go up) & come down. I'm feeling perkier now and there is still chocolate in my stocking!

Happy New Year, Barb