Chirstmas clean-up

Why do I always feel both sad and exhilerated when it is time to put away the Chirstmas decorations?

I know that I feel sad that after all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays that it is such a short time that the decorations are fully appreciated. For me, the before holiday crunch (and it was such a crunch this year, no cards out the door, no baking done) that I hardly noticed or appreciated the many nice decorations that I have either received, made or purchased. It was only after the actual Christmas day, when things slowed down that I was able to look and enjoy. Then, it was time to put it all away. So, as I packed each Disney ornament back into it's box it was like saying so long until next year. A sad time.

However, once the tree was safely back in it's box (after leaving many scratches and cuts on my hands and arms) the mood turned to a feeling of freedom and space. I guess this is all because my house is small and in order to put up my Christmas tree I have to relocate furniture and everything becomes very tight and cozy. With the removal of the tree and the new resolution to become more organized and live a simpler life it was like a new beginning over the weekend. I moved all of the furniture back into place and instead of just putting it back I did a complete cleaning. I even put thought into the items that sit on top of the old Singer trundle sewing machine that is used as an end table next to my chair. I went through the drawers, cleaned all the wrought iron on the base, and polished the old wood. Did I really want or need to display or keep some of the items that my sister Cindy would call knick-knacks? As this is an ongoing project started before the holidays, I just added some stuff to the two bags I had for the Salvation Army and dropped them off this morning. Now, the challenge is to keep up the good clean that I did over the weekend and continue moving into other rooms. With any luck I will be living a more organized, productive and clutter free life by the end of 2007.
Wish me luck!