Ah, the post-Christmas malaise. In ye olde days, I used to sleep all day on December 26th, then be up and on my feet by the 27th. This year, when I haven't been forced to work, I've been sleeping.
Of course, this is the first year we've had Christmas dinner at our house for Dale's family (mine is 2,000 miles away in Illinois). I was up at 7 a.m. to get the turkey in the oven so it could be done in time to get out of the oven and let the ham have its turn. After that was another 45 minutes for the stuffing that didn't fit into the bird and another 30 minutes for the sweet potatoes. While I wasn't cooking, I was getting out plates and arranging the tables and giving my darling son instructions about which floor to mop and what to get at the store, etc.
There's a million little things to do when you're trying to make 15 people comfortable in your home.
I got the last dish dried and put away at 1 a.m.
Don't misunderstand - I loved having the bustle of so many people in my house. It was fun to take care of them and make sure everyone had something to drink or eat or unwrap. Dale's youngest brother and his family spent the night and our nieces and nephews were nothing but good.
And now I'm exhausted.
The worst part is, the fog of fatigue has kept me from writing. It took me about three times longer than normal to write my column this week. I opened the file on my latest Peri story, looked at it, and closed it again. All I can do is play with my new Kindle Fire and do the puzzles in the newspaper.
My Fire and my mechanical pencil - that's all I need to rejuvenate.
This woman was not exhausted from cooking and cleaning, but every time I think, "I'm tired," I think of this:
How about you? How did you survive the holidays? Or are you TIRED?
Proud Member of ALA!
3 comments:
Could you ask guests to bring a dish or two next time? This year I made a lot of cold dishes that I could prepare the day before, then all I had to cook Christmas day was the ham and the pie. 'Course I didn't have near as many guests as you!
I find that once I break my writing rhythm, it's difficult to get back into it
They did all bring a dish! It's not Christmas with the Carlines unless you have a cornucopia of food. Mom brought potato salad and a cake. David brought green beans and mac 'n' cheese. Daryl brought peach cobbler. There were cookies, fudge, breads, salads...
I think I'm full again, just thinking about it.
A trick I learned from my mother-in-law - clean the house the day before and have the table set. If possible. Our house only has one dining room table, so the setting the table part usually gets done after breakfast on the day of the event.
Amazing how just cooking can totally wipe you out. I hope your energy gets back up to Gayleness, because Peri needs to speak!
I'll bet you had a blast, though. Exhausted or not. Happy New Year, my friend.
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