Post Holiday Blues?

The holiday season has just passed by in a blur.  Don't get me wrong--I loved every minute of it!  I am lucky enough to be able to have some time off for Winter Break, so I am able to get a lot more done than most.

Before break ever started, I made some customized tags for gifts--

Once break started, I made one of the grands some chocolate covered cherries--a recipe I found on Pinterest.  They were pretty easy to make with no too many ingredients or steps.  My kind of recipe. 

After about 40 minutes in the refrigerator, I was able to dip them in the melted chocolate mixture.  I used stemmed and non-stemmed cherries.  The stemmed ones were so much easier.  After that, the chocolate covered gems spent some more time chilling.  Of course, I had to try one to make sure they were edible--boy were they!  

Besides making a few goodies, we shopped and shopped and then wrapped and wrapped as evidenced by our Christmas tree--do you see it there amongst the presents?  Have you ever seen so many presents?  That's what happens when you have teenagers with jobs and money to burn.  Luckily a lot of our shopping was done at thrift stores.  We LOVE finding great treasures for just a fraction of the cost.  

So normally as soon as all of the presents are opened, I feel a profound sense of sadness that it is all over, but not this year.  This year is different and I have no idea why.  Usually, at some point during the holiday season, I find myself crying.  Mama Bird and I refer to this as our "Christmas Cry".  My grandmother (Grandma Bird) coined the phrase.  But for some reason this year, I don't feel the cry coming on.  I tried hard not to lose it or get too frustrated this year.   There was lots of stuff that I had hoped to accomplish, yet didn't and I'm OK with that.  There's always next year.  What seemed more important this year was just being with family.  Watching movies with one of the grands.  Shopping, crafting and wrapping with the others.  Even helping Mama Bird wrap late into the night on Christmas Eve.  We all expect this of her--it's been that way for as long as I can remember.  Wrapping presents and watching Fiddler on the Roof.  No Fiddler this year, but up until almost 2:00 a.m. prepping for a great Xmas morning.  And as usual, it was just that--a GREAT Xmas.