Twelve Reasons to Be Glad the Holidays Are Over
Jan 4th 2008
Nicole JordanMy Life As A Plebe
I’m not always a Scrooge when it comes to the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Only in the years when my life is crazy-busy – which admittedly happens all too often these days. When I’m wearing my Scrooge hat, I have lots of reasons to be thankful the holiday season is over:
1. We can quit spending money on gifts no one likes.
2. Our favorite TV shows come back with new episodes (well, at least they do in most years when there isn’t a writers’ strike going on.)
3. Football bowl games no longer take up the biggest portion of our DVR space.
4. There’s no good excuse to keep making fattening goodies that tempt us mercilessly.
5. We can get back to our diet and exercise plans (is that a positive?)
6. Our daily Must-Do list thins out so we can devote some time to ourselves instead of to everyone else.
7. Obligations to family in-laws are fulfilled at least for a little while (thank goodness).
8. The Post Office will finally open and deliver mail on 
time (well, maybe not.)
9. Department stores are no longer war zones.
10. The ski season starts in earnest, and the beginner tourists who make the slopes so dangerous go home.
11. We can put up holiday decorations and clear our living rooms of fire hazzards.
12. And the best, we can get back to work so we can rest!
On the other hand, there are lots of reasons to be sad the holidays won’t come around for nearly another year (this is my Mary Poppins bonnet point of view). Top on my list are: We no longer have an excuse to blow our diets and our budgets. We won’t get many presents until this time next year. And the good will and good cheer that accompanies the season doesn’t come as naturally to most folks.
Do you have reasons to be glad (Scrooge hat) or sad (Mary Poppins bonnet) that the holidays are over? What will you miss most? What will you be happiest to see end?
41 Comments »
41 Responses to “Twelve Reasons to Be Glad the Holidays Are Over”
Lisa H on 04 Jan 2008 at 8:13 am #
I am always sad to see my Christmas decorations come down. I love shopping for my friends and family, I love baking (only at Christmas time) and entertaining. I don’t dislike anything about Christmas.
Jan, Feb and March are quite grey here in upstate NY, but it is a good time to work on getting in shape, getting organized and writing.
cail on 04 Jan 2008 at 8:22 am #
i’m excited for some more ‘me’ time. the holidays are a bit exhausting.
Cookiedough on 04 Jan 2008 at 8:51 am #
Scroogey me likes to have the house free and clear of clutter
Mary Poppins is glad that family time is never over in my family. Birthdays are a big deal and we all get together for them. Tomorrow’s 2nd birthday party for Hunter is case in point.
SuzyQ on 04 Jan 2008 at 9:01 am #
I will not miss all the running around. I really don’t get to finally relax until the day after Christmas.
I will miss the time I spend with my family. I always have vacation time between Christmas and New Year which usually works out to be about a week and a half off. The day after Christmas is a pajama day, where we finally get to really see what we got and help the kids with all their toys (and of course play with them too). The rest of the time is spent doing whatever we feel like – no schedules to follow!
KariE on 04 Jan 2008 at 9:05 am #
I think it was fun to step out of the normal routine of life during the holidays but I am glad to get back in the swing of normal. My pocket book can’t take much more.
Gannon on 04 Jan 2008 at 9:18 am #
I love all of the decorations, baking, presents, family time, goodwill, etc, but I’m so exhausted by the end of the holiday season! I just crave some routine and normalcy. And no more mad dashes to the store for last minute gifts, along with every other person on the planet! Aaagh! I can’t stand crowds!
That being said, come November this year I will get excited again preparing for Christmas!
doglady on 04 Jan 2008 at 9:31 am #
Going to work is not so horrendous now that I don’t have to listen to Christmas music nine hours a day! The store is not as full of grumpy, nasty, arrogant idiots. The pace has slowed down a little bit so I can get back to my writing and I am not so exhausted.
On the downside, I only got to see my family a couple of days. I happen to like my Christmas decorations so I hate to take them down and pack them up. I got great gifts and didn’t have to exchange a thing except for some coats that my BFF bought for my two house dogs. People crack up when you say you have to exchange your dogs’ Christmas gifts because they were the wrong size!!
The best part? More time to read novels by the Goddesses and more time to try and write my own!!
Karen Hawkins on 04 Jan 2008 at 9:36 am #
I de-cluttered and took all of the Christmas stuff down, then sat around and sighed VERY happily. I love putting the tinsel and lights and all of the festive stuff up and then I equally enjoy taking it all down and packing it away. My living room suddenly looks HUGE and CLEAN and that’s so cool! (And unusual!)
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 10:50 am #
>>>My living room suddenly looks HUGE and CLEAN and that’s so cool! (And unusual!)
LOL, Karen! That’s very nice. I spent at least a half day cleaning up after our New Year’s Eve party, and yes, it was nice to be able to see the carpet.
>>People crack up when you say you have to exchange your dogs’ Christmas gifts because they were the wrong size!!
I’ll bet they do, DL, lol. And I’ll bet that you’re relieved more than most of us that the holidays are over.
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 10:56 am #
You goddesses with families you enjoy are very lucky. We spend every Christmas with my dh’s family 5 states away and takes almost a full day each to get there and back, two plane flights and a long drive. By the time I pack and get the house ready to leave, I’m already grumpy. And then spending the holidays with a crowd in someone else’s house and having to battle the Xmas travellers on the way home, and spending another day to unpack and play catchup, well, it’s no wonder I’m a Scrooge sometimes!
Sabrina Jeffries on 04 Jan 2008 at 11:05 am #
This year, I have MORE to do now that Christmas is over, because I kept shoving everything aside with the mantra, “after the holidays, after the holidays …”
Now, sigh, it’s after the holidays. But at least my novella is almost finished!
Lisa H on 04 Jan 2008 at 11:06 am #
Nicole, I don’t think I would like that very much either. My advice, bring a good book to read! I always do when we travel and I have no problem saying I have to go lay down for a little while…then I whip out something like, “To Pleasure a Prince” and escape in Marcus’ arms for a little while!
The in-laws never know what I was up to!
ladydawgfan on 04 Jan 2008 at 11:16 am #
I love Christmas. I always have and probably always will, even though it exhausts me. Today, I undecorated my desk at work. We had a decorating contest and my cubicle ended up looking like the Griswold’s cubicle, but everyone at work loved it, and I won the contest!
Now, with no decorations, it looks bland and boring. I need to do something to jazz it up again.
At home, the tree will stay up until Epiphany. Then everything comes down and mass cleaning begins. Fortunately (or unfortuately) the outside decorations are frozen into place until spring thaw, so we will have to wait until March or April to take them in. Yes, I live in Vermont!!
All in all, I love the holidays, stress and all. I know that it is a lot of work, but it is so spiritually fulfilling for me that I don’t mind it, and I try to extend the season for as long as possible. Call me strange if you will, but I’ll never be a Scrooge!!!
Mer on 04 Jan 2008 at 11:22 am #
Vacations were great for me, even I was working, everything was slower. I needed it!
Anyway, I love that next monday everything will come back to normal!
zambonigirl on 04 Jan 2008 at 11:44 am #
The food thing is the one that I’m most glad about. I ususally have a lot of will power (read: I ignore it until I just can’t ignore it any more, and I can sometimes make it through an entire day before succumbing), but I really got depressed after breaking my arm, and I went down the “I deserve it!” route. There was one night when I had eaten so many shortbread cookies (my favorite next to snickerdoodles) that I almost fainted from sugar shock! I actually felt shaky and weak. I knew at that point that I was being a bad Zambi and really needed to snap out of it all ready.
The one thing I’m most glad about are the holiday-themed clothes that I won’t have to see again until Halloween. Who really wears sweaters with pumpkins and turkeys on them? Don’t answer that.
Kay on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:13 pm #
Dh and I are off in search of sunshine for a week, so the Christmas decorations won’t come down until we get back.
I will be fully rested before I tackle that job. Don’t worry–the tree is artificial, my youngest child and I have asthma, so real trees (& fire hazards) stay outside.
The house will seem huge when all of the Christmas stuff is packed away, but I love it for the month that it is up.
I avoided the malls a s much as possible this year and found some great sales with free shipping thrown in, online, and that was a lifesaver. I had to have unexpected surgery (I’m fine, but I milked it for all it was worth LOL) the week before Christmas, and the shopping was DONE.
We celebrated with DH’s family for the first time in 9 years. His family is spread out all over the midwest and northeast, so it was special this year–and I didn’t have to cook or clean since it wasn’t at our house. I have two years to prepare for that.
Happy New Year.
Julia London on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:16 pm #
I am so glad the food is gone. I got cakes and cheesecakes and chocolates from lots of different places and man….it was hard to stick to WW!!
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:43 pm #
Lisa, that’s great that you can get away to read! I don’t have that luxury, unfortunately, since there are too many people in the house. And I do most of the cooking and cleaning at my in-laws, plus I’m always working on writing the next book, so what should be a vacation sure ain’t!
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:46 pm #
Congrats on almost finishing the novella, Sabrina! That’s doubly impressive that you got it done during the busiest part of the year.
And Ladydf, you’re allowed to be a Mary Poppins *grin.* It’s goddesses like you who put a little light into the lives of us Scrooges.
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:49 pm #
Boy, I hear you about the food. Usually I can resist, but this year so many of my friends gave such great goodies as gifts. Got a huge box of See’s chocolates — my fave — and even though I took it to the in-laws’ house to share, I wound up eat most of the walnut maple creams and chocolate creams.
Zambi, I’m so glad your arm is healing so that you can eventually get back to your routine. I’m still shocked that it was your trainer who broke it!
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 12:52 pm #
Kay, I’ve avoided all the malls and Walmarts and super grocery stores like the plague. But I finally HAD to brave them two days ago. They were still madhouses, with customers fighting over parking spaces and places in the checkout lines.
I’m hoping that maybe by next it’ll get back to something resembling normal.
claudia dain on 04 Jan 2008 at 1:00 pm #
My favorite part of after the holidays is taking down the decorations. Amazing how much room a Christmas tree takes up! My house looks enormous without all the stuff, though I love putting it up just as much as taking it down. The only trouble with taking it down is that I end up wondering just where it’s all supposed to go. Matching Christmas ornaments to the right box and then the right lid for the right box and then the right storage box for the right little box. I’m so confused!
ladydawgfan on 04 Jan 2008 at 1:28 pm #
Claudia,
Limpa’s great anytime of the year!!
Have you tried the Limpa recipe yet? No need to wait until next Christmas, you know!
Alice Audrey on 04 Jan 2008 at 1:36 pm #
I love the holidays but I’m glad to get my life back. The kids are back in school and now I get to work. Weeeeeee.
cail on 04 Jan 2008 at 2:02 pm #
You know, I had never been in a Walmart until 2006 and haven’t since then. I don’t think we have them in the NY area.
claudia dain on 04 Jan 2008 at 2:17 pm #
Tried the Limpa recipe? I just got it! ROFL
On the schedule for today, since my Christmas decorations are all down and packed up, I have to get what I hope will be the final revisions to my editor by close of business today.
Food? I don’t have time for food! This is one of those days when I eat protein bars at the computer and drink caffeine all day.
Limpa is on my “when this is done” list! Long list. *g*
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 2:20 pm #
Ok, y’all, what is Limpa? Spill!
And Cail, you should probably count yourself fortunate you don’t have Walmarts nearby! They’ve pretty much taken over the south-mid-west!
ladydawgfan on 04 Jan 2008 at 3:04 pm #
Limpa is a Swedish rye bread, probably the best bread in the world, especially with pickled herring on it!! *grin, wink*
Actually, the pickled herring is an “acquired taste,” if you will, although I am one of those Swedish folk who actually love it. The limpa that we were discussing is a recipe that was handed down through the generations in my family. I happily passed it on to Claudia at her request. Recipes are meant to be shared, n’est pas?
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 3:22 pm #
Yum to the Limpa! Sounds delicious. The pickled herring not so much *Grin*. Although I have tried it before and thought it wasn’t too bad.
claudia dain on 04 Jan 2008 at 3:26 pm #
Limpa *is* the best best in the world. It has a taste like no other bread, very difficult to describe, but for most of my life I hated bread but LOVED Limpa. And the color is gorgeous, too, a rich brown. It’s rye, yes, but not anything like standard rye bread.
Limpa, how I love thee, let me count the ways!
And on the subject of Walmart, I’ve only been to one and that one only three times. I am *not* a Walmart shopper. Based on my experience, they’re easy to avoid! Of course, I *am* a Target shopper.
cail on 04 Jan 2008 at 3:30 pm #
Claudia, I LOVE Target!! LDF… You should post that recipe in the forum!
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 4:30 pm #
>>>You should post that recipe in the forum!
I agree, cail and LDF!
And Claudia, we don’t have any Targets near us…. only K-mart, which I do NOT like. I swear I go in with a list of 10 items and come out without finding a single thing on my list!
Judy F on 04 Jan 2008 at 4:37 pm #
My main reason is my life gets back to semi normal. With working part time at the mall and my day job I was tired 24/7. Plus those lovely extended hours are killers.
Sadly when I worked on sunday our mall was still playing Christmas music. Now I love Christmas music but not after Christmas
ladydawgfan on 04 Jan 2008 at 4:54 pm #
Okay, the Limpa recipe is posted for anyone interested. Look in the Off Mt Olympus section of the Forum.
claudia dain on 04 Jan 2008 at 5:30 pm #
Oh, thank you, Ladydawgfan! I’ve been too swamped today to do much of anything (except whine, because, as we all know, there’s always a time for whine).
Hope you all enjoy the Limpa as much as the Swedes among us do!
jessie e on 04 Jan 2008 at 5:48 pm #
Scrooge Hat: I’m glad the holidays are over because money just slips through my fingers during them, and I’m a horrible present-picker, so I don’t feel like the money is spent in a worthwhile manner.
Mary Poppins Hat: I’m sad the holidays are over because now I have to go back to school. And because I always get to see my extended family during the holidays a lot more than I do during the rest of the year.
RachelG on 04 Jan 2008 at 6:03 pm #
I am always happiest when I am finally feeling guilt-free about throwing out the last pound of fudge.
rachelg
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 6:13 pm #
Ye goddesses, Rachel!! You actually have to willpower to through out fudge???? You’re a far better goddess than I, lol.
>>>and I’m a horrible present-picker, so I don’t feel like the money is spent in a worthwhile manner.
Me, too, JessieE! I mostly gave gift cards this year. Makes me feel like a slaggard since some of my friend’s gifts to me were so creative and thoughtful. I just don’t have that gene, I guess.
Nicole Jordan on 04 Jan 2008 at 6:15 pm #
Judy, I can’t imagine having to work at a mall during Xmas. I would go stark raving mad. Glad you survived!
claudia dain on 04 Jan 2008 at 6:29 pm #
I remember one mall Christmas job I had: engraving brass Christmas ornaments with either a name or a sentiment. That electric, jiggly, engraving pen! Ouch! So hard to keep the letters even and pretty, so tough to get that name spelled right. And they’re staring down at you while you do it! Stress! The engraving was done at a wobbly card table set up by the exit doors to the parking lot, freezing air coming in with every exit and entrance.
So many stressed out shoppers, so little time left to shop.
After that, autographing books for fans is a walk in the park.
Yasmin on 05 Jan 2008 at 11:46 pm #
I was happy with myself this year. I did not rush at all I bought gifts wayyyy earlier. i was sneaky i asked at the begining of nov what they wish they got for x-mas. They weren’t expecting me to take notes.
i still need to take down decorations we do it til jan 6th. i do go out to shop at Walmart but hate the long lines. i usually go very early morning when they just open. Target I like alot they always have very different crafty stuff.