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I’ve been holding my breath for the past month. The holidays are fun but stressful. Once New Year’s Day passed, I felt like I could finally take a breath and relax a bit. There were no more gifts to buy, cards to send, menus to plan, visits with family that require synchronized scheduling to ensure that no one feels shortchanged. January is just a cold, wet, boring month during which I feel perfectly justified being lazy.
This past holiday season seemed busier than most. With my parents no longer driving, it meant more trips to the mall (ugh!) and the market. We also hosted our great-nieces for two days of cookie baking. They come most every year, shift into Keebler Elf mode, and spend 48 hours using up all my sugar, flour, nuts, sprinkles and chocolate chips. The girls like to give boxes of these homemade treats to all their friends as gifts.
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The rest of the family always helps with the production line. This year, my sister-in-law worked the industrial mixer and wielded the spritz cookie gun like a pro. Mom whipped up a batch of her proprietary chocolate-chip cookie dough. My sister artfully arranged the treat tins, and hubby filled his role as dredger-in-chief (he carefully dips each shortbread cookie into melted chocolate for a perfect finish). Oh, and Dad was the official quality-control taster. Once all treats had passed Dad’s rigorous screening process (aka eating himself into a cookie coma), we divided up 250 cookies, three batches of peanut brittle and four batches of brownies. Whew!
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Shopping also seemed a little more difficult this year. Our teen and young adult niblings answered nearly every inquiry regarding possible gifts with “I don’t know,” “Whatever,” or “Cash?” I’m morally opposed to handing envelopes of cash to the kids. It seems a little too shady, like I’m paying them protection money or something. And while the devil on my shoulder would love to wrap up an empty box of “Whatever” or “I don’t know,” my softer side just can’t do it. So, the search for tactile gifts was particularly exhausting.
The only exception to this gifting apathy is our 25-year-old niece Maddie, who creates a perfect wish list every year. While some people think it’s tacky to outright ask for things once you’re an adult, I LOVE her list. I adore it. There’s no guessing, as she helpfully includes her preferred sizes, colors and styles. She also has a variety of cost options. This year’s list ranged from accordion file folders ($2.98 a pop) to fancy earbuds (um, a bit more than $2.98). Finally, every item on her list comes with a link to the shop or online store that sells it. Beautiful. Chef’s kiss. Absolute perfection. |
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Now that the decorations and ornaments have been packed away for another year—although, we all know I’ll be vacuuming up glitter until March—I’ve been looking for places for a vacation. I’m thinking maybe Europe. I hear the U.K. lets Americans stay for up to six months without a visa. But, before any trip planning begins, I think I’ll just lie on the couch a bit longer.
Happy New Year. |
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