Back to Semi-Normal

It's not even Russian Orthodox Christmas yet (Jan 7) and I just got my tree down and all the Christmas decorations put away. I always use this benchmark to decide whether I need to get my rear in gear after the holidays. Being near the North Pole and all, Russian Christmas is widely celebrated in these parts so it's not usual to see houses still decorated at this point. I did notice that the tree pickup has begun and will continue every week through the end of the month.

Along with tearing down the tree and trimmings, I put UP my winter village with Brainy Boy's help. I generally leave that to Hero Guy who never did get to it, but since snowmen and sledding gear are usually appropriate until almost Easter, I figure a little winter scene might encourage some flakes, which have been absent up until now. I would be completely happy without the frosty stuff, but the wee ones are sure their development is going to be scarred if they don't get a few trips down the hill.

It was a little reminiscent of my Florida days as I had the sliding doors wide open with 65 degree breezes helping get the cobwebs off my tree when I disassembled it today. It sounds as though we won't be enjoying anything of the balmy sort as of next week, so I'm gonna go dig out me ear muffs & mittens.