Christmas is Over

I like to think it is the Power of Positive Thought that saw the Baby Boy sleeping from 11.30pm until 7.30 this morning in his own cot with little more than a pat of his back, the stroke of his soft little head and a "sssh, good boy" to settle him. The two year old wasn't quite as accommodating, waking up at 5.30am, but she went straight to sleep once she was snuggled cosily between mummy and daddy.

The dummies that I bought in desperation are sitting redundantly on my bedside cabinet - which is absolutely fine with me.

Our refuse collection service has suffered a lot of disruption due to bank holidays and bad weather. So much so that we are practically drowning in our seasonally boosted recycling and other rubbish. It was reassuring this morning to hear the low grumbling of  the idle engine of a large vehicle, see the orange flashing light penetrating the gloom of my room through the slightly open curtains and then hear the unmistakable sound of glass bottles and jars clanging together as they are poured from the recycling bin to be taken away. With the kids back at school, husband back at work and ripped off wrapping paper rubbish mountain being dealt with, Christmas is well and truly over for another year.

I took Ivy shopping yesterday to buy her some new gym clothes (which was part of a Christmas promise). We managed to dent the credit card a bit in the Sport Shop but then went on to give it a proper hammering in the Asda sale. True to my 11 things for 2011 to inject some colour into my wardrobe, I bought myself a RED top.... but then crumbled under the pressure and bought an identical one in black and three other tops in shades of black. Still, it's a start!

Also with my '11 things..' in mind, I am planning Phase One of a grand sort out to rid my life of anything that is neither beautiful or useful.... starting with the washing up pile (!) .... and then there's the ironing to tackle. Yes I think I can categorically say that Christmas is well and truly over.