What Women Want?

It's Christmas night...time for women everywhere to reclaim their sanity after weeks of joyous exhaustion. Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas as much as the next person...but I think I like Christmas night even better. The frenzy of almost non-stop crafting, shopping, wrapping, baking, card-writing, cooking, dressing up, visiting, and eating is over for another year, but the best things, the peace and goodwill of the season, linger.

So, when we passed Santa leaving Maine in his big red pick-up truck tonight, I had very mixed emotions. The child in me didn't want to see him go, ever...but the exhausted woman in me wanted to open the window and yell,  "And don't let Rudolph hit you in the *** on your way out!"

Big, fat snowflakes were falling when we arrived home...a perfect end to a crazy-perfect day. With tummy and car uncomfortably full, I found myself thinking about what women (at least this one) really want as Christmas draws to a close for another year.

So, as the snow falls silently outside my window, and the house is finally still, here's my humble list:

1. I want to walk around wearing flannel, slippers, no make-up, and crazy hair for at least a week. I do not want to wear a sequined sweater or singing stocking cap for at least 51 more weeks.

photo from Mary Engelbreit website

2. I want my house back. I am ready to see every last pile of crumpled gift wrap gone. I want to wake up in the morning and fill trash bags to my heart's content. I want to walk from one end of a room to the other without tripping over bags, boxes, bows, candy canes, walnuts and elves. I want to walk into my craft room and not see this for 11 more months...

3. I want to gorge on salad and fruit. I do not want to be asked if I would like to try "just a little bit" of any of the following for at least 340 days: sugar cookies, egg nog, yule logs, baked brie, candied nuts, stuffed squid, chocolate-covered cherries, cheese balls, latkes, or pecan pie. It has taken me over a year on Weight Watchers to lose 37 pounds and I don't want one ounce of it back. I'm relieved that the annual holiday bacchanalia is over for another year...trying not to disappoint my (fantastic) WW leader, Mary Elizabeth,  is hard enough on a good week, a major challenge at the holidays.

4. I want to buy bins. I know it's crazy...I don't even need them...but when the Target flyer arrived in this morning's paper, there they were: colorful bins in all shapes and sizes, and, even, better, on Sale.  After saying I would never set foot in a store again after December 24th,  I have this insane compulsion to set my alarm for six a.m. (Target thoughtfully opens at 7:00 tomorrow for us after-Christmas women-on-a-mission-to get-their-homes-back), grab a Pumpkin Spice coffee on the road, and head the sleigh over to Target to load up on the latest accessories for the modern obsessive-compulsive.

5. I want my blogging time back. I have been so "wrapped up" in holiday preparations I've let my blog go and I miss it. I miss the creating, photography, and writing...but I especially miss my blog friends. I love nothing more than spending quiet time reading my favorite blogs, sharing comments, and being inspired by the amazingly talented women I meet in blogland. So I apologize to those Followers who wonder if I've dropped off the face of the planet (I haven't) and promise to do my best to reconnect with each of you in the coming weeks. My Sister's Cottage is here to stay.

Now that I've shared the Christmas Night confessions of a happy but holiday-weary woman, I'd love to hear from you. Are you sad that Christmas is over or anxious to get back into comfortable old routines?

This post is happily linked to :

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch