Post-Christmas

I have never before been so eager to start taking down Christmas decorations (even though they've only been up for 27 days). I started with the Jesse Tree and the big tree this afternoon. Emily broke 3 and lost 1 of the Jesse tree ornaments. The final tally on the glass bulb ornaments was 7 shattered and 3 MIA. The tinsel garland went straight into the trash. I left the winter/snowman decorations out because almost all of them are out of Emily's reach. I also left her Little People nativity set out because she has had a lot of fun playing with it the last couple days (although she's still calling the baby "Baby Moses" instead of "Baby Jesus").

Austin & I have really been enjoying some of our gifts. Austin's favorite so far is the under-cabinet radio/CD player for the kitchen, which has now reduced the "counter clutter" to a single Kleenex box. ;o) Emily has already shed some tears as we establish a firm "no-touching" rule.

I am almost 6 hours into "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy, which I uploaded to my new MP3 player using a free library service. Only 27 more hours to go! :o) I can't seem to find (i.e. make) the time/energy to sit down and read a lot of books lately, so now maybe I can enjoy some while doing other things--like taking down Christmas decorations. It might even inspire me to walk/exercise more once the weather gets nicer and the streets are clear.

We are also ecstatic to have a working vacuum cleaner once again and to have the dog hair back under control. It's not exactly the most romantic thing to spend gift money on, but it was desperately needed!

Emily has had lots fun playing with her new toys and reading her new books. The last picture of the slide show was of the new storage bin shelf we got for her room. Apparently, Emily thinks that was a toy, too. Every time we've put her to bed we can hear clunking and clanging, and when we go into her room the bins are all off the shelves and stacked inside one another. I can't decide if actually filling the bins with things would discourage her from removing them all or would just create a colossal mess as she dumped everything in a pile. I'm thinking the latter is the more probable outcome, so except for a few books (which usually end up in bed with her anyway) the bins remain empty for now.

Now that the holidays and travels are finished, we're going to be buckling down in the potty-training department. Tomorrow (Monday) is "P-Day" so Emily & I could both use a little prayer. ;o)