Is this the best drawing I have ever done?

No.

Was it relaxing?

Hell, yes.

After putting our decorations up yesterday, my brain wants to be in cleaning mode today.

I had big plans for decluttering and organizing my house this year but with everything that happened I didn’t have the mental space or energy to do it.

And since doing a huge amount of cleaning before Xmas is in my DNA, I always feel like I have to spend December cleaning.

But I don’t want to.

I’m trying to help myself have a very slow month so I can rest and recuperate from the whirlwind of this year. And resting is not compatible with the type of cleaning my subconscious wants me to do.

So I’m trying to do a little tidying up – just enough to make the house feel a little less like an ongoing project – but without flicking the switch to ‘must clean everything!’

It’s a tricky thing to navigate.

When I was a kid, Xmas decorating came last thing in the holiday prep.

Since having a house of my own, I do as early in December as I possibly can.

I like knowing that part is ready, even if the rest of my plans take forever.

Every year I order Santa’s Secret tea from David’s tea to have every day in December.

This year, I accidentally ordered it late and I thought it wouldn’t be here until next week.

Obviously, that’s no big deal but I really wanted to start that little ritual right away in December.

Luckily, the mail pantheon was smiling upon me today and my tea arrived just in time for lunch.

And it turns out that the tea tumblers I ordered are wee which absolutely delighted me.

My lunchtime tea was especially satisfying today.

I’m making it a practice to really dig into the small joys of my days right now.

OK, so we did end up having some snow yesterday.

And it really looked beautiful on mine and Khalee’s walk this morning.