Boxing Day

Well, we have never celebrated Boxing Day in the US---at least not the original meaning: the day after Christmas is when the wealthy honor the working class and poor with gifts. They boxed up gifts and food--at least that's my takeaway. Later it became associated with sporting events, but not necessarily boxing. I don't really get it.

When I first heard about it, not knowing the meaning, I thought it meant the day after Christmas when you start boxing up all the decorations. That's what it means for me!!

I got so much accomplished on "Boxing Day 2022." Actually, it all began after Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. My refrigerator went from this:

A completely stuffed refrigerator to this:

Nearly empty. I get that it doesn't look all that empty, but the containers are just about all gone. I must note that Butch had already gone to the grocery store to get more eggs and milk. I sent ALL the leftovers home with Stephanie since she has the girls here all week. Butch and I made ourselves a little microwave meal before we sent away all the food. It was enough.

So, after handing off all the leftovers, we pretty much sent Steph and Mindy home. Although it's nice to have help with the clean-up, sometimes it's more of a hassle than it's worth. Case in point: I never taught my girls to take their plates to the sink. Somehow, everyone does it anyway. What ends up happening, is there is stuff on every counter and an even huger mess to clean up when there's nowhere to begin. I follow my "rule of the right" and start there. If I can get that counter clear, I have a place to go with the clean things. 

It was during the clean-up that I realized the freezer had really died. So I had that mess to contend with: toss out all of the thawed (which was everything except two wrappers of meat) and then wipe it all out. I'm done with it. We are not replacing it. But, we might get another refrigerator. That's the space we really need now and then.

I then started the laundry. 

When "Boxing Day" dawned, I continued with the laundry, put away all of the dishes and containers (my least favorite part of clean-up), wiped out the refrigerator and sorted through and cleaned the freezer side, cleaned out the cabinets in the library that contain an ever-growing assortment of empty boxes (it's a sickness--I know), started putting Christmas stuff away and even had a little time to get up in my scrapbook room to sort some pictures. I planned out my round-robin layout, designed the title, and did the journaling. Tomorrow I'll finish the page.

I continued gathering the decorations. We'll finish all that tomorrow. But now I'm looking at this:

Our tree with no gifts under it. That's kind of sad. It's all over for another year--which will be here before you know it. Time is really flying by. We had a great time with our family--so full of fun, laughter, food, and games.

 It's not completely over. The whole gang will be here on Wednesday night for dinner--including Mitchell and Emily. Stephanie, Morgan, and Jordan will come early so we can discuss The Nurse's Secret. Connie recommended the book, so we decided to read it and discuss it when we are together. We love doing that. 

Then on Sunday, Morgan is cooking for a final family New Year's celebration---here. We're happy to have a few more fun times before everyone leaves. 

I'll share my Christmas presents tomorrow.