Saying Good-Bye

It was inevitable.

The tree

and all the decorations

couldn't stay up forever.

They would have to come down

and be packed away

for 10 1/2 months.

Yes, it was all very lovely.

Yes, I missed out on some of the loveliness

while we were gone

and then when I came home sick and bruised

I was in bed for awhile

and still couldn't fully enjoy it.

But today had to come.

I couldn't put it off any longer.

This is the longest I've had Christmas up.

Good-bye

almost bare tree.

Good-bye all the pretty ornaments and decorations.

Good-bye 10 boxes of stuff

and two Christmas trees.

Hello regular house.

Hello open and airy feeling.

Okay.

Pause.

Here's the MAIN reason I kept everything up

for so long:

We never took our Sunday-best Christmas pictures

in front of the tree

and I needed one more Sunday

so that could happen.

This year there are only four of us.

Gasp.

But we took our pictures

in varying combinations

last Sunday.

So, can we really call these

Christmas Pictures

since they were taken

on January 11, 2009?

Well, regardless,

it was a lovely Christmastime.

(is that tree kind of tilting?)

Good-bye for now.