The Quiet after the storm

I don't know about you but the older I get the more work the holidays seem. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, making dinner, having the whole family over, shopping, sewing gifts etc but that next day I find I just want to chill. This year our weather has been amazing, warm, sunny days and cool nights are perfect but you don't want to be inside around a fireplace! I dream of white Christmases but love the fact that I can still sit outside in the warmth on Christmas Day! Today is the 26th, the quiet after the storm of activity and the rip and tear sessions as we call it here. A day when all my guests can sleep in, where Randy and I could sneak out for our early morning walk, where I can grab my paints and journal about our Christmas together. After our walk I took my coffee and went over to the side yard where the trees are still colored up and dropping their leaves. Where the morning sun shines on the stucco wall and casts wonderful shadows from the surrounding foliage. It is somewhere I can sit in the dappled shade and enjoy the morning.

My mom and sister later joined me and we just visited for awhile. My mom asked me, "Does this relax you?" Yes, it does, I said. I thought about that for awhile. What is it that I do that totally relaxes me, takes me to a place of calm and quiet, a peaceful bliss. It is definitely when I am painting.

They both left to shop the sales but I decided to stay home, finish my painting in my journal and then play Boce Ball with Randy while I drink expresso from my new expresso maker!

It makes for a perfect day! What are you doing after all the rip and tear is over, after the busyness of Christmas day is over and the quiet starts to settle back into your home? For those of you who spend Christmas alone, do you look forward to the day after sales with all the commotion and excitement? For me, it is also a time to reflect and then look forward by setting some goals for the New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you that visit my blog, leave comments and have become such a special part of my life.