When January Comes

From Halloween until New Year's life is a blur. Always! That is probably true for everyone. With Josh's birthday close to New Year's Day, I don't have this moment until January 7th. When the Epiphany is over. That being the 12th and final day of Christmas. Which is January 6th. On January 7th I catch up to everyone else on that one feeling. That one moment. 

"Wait, it's January." Suddenly, the holiday chaos becomes calm quiet. Suddenly, the question becomes "when will the Christmas decorations come down?" as you drive around neighborhoods. Suddenly, your kid is back in school. Suddenly, life is back to normal. Only, it has been so long you forgot how normal works. 

That's an odd phrase, right. "How normal works". Follow me on this one. We have all figured out ways of performing regular tasks to optimize them. That routine and those methods go out the window in the sea of holiday chaos. But, there are the things you normally do and the way you have figured out how to do them. That way works best for you. But, in the hurry and overstimulation of the holidays, we change how we do those things sometimes without thinking. 

Then, January comes. The holiday distractions are gone. We have to adjust to living life normally again. December is full of chaos, dinners, parties, and generally being busy. January is full of the exact opposite. Not much happens in January. 

When January comes, we take time to recover from the holiday season. We go through withdrawal. Thinking there is something we should be doing. But, nothing is scheduled to be done. It's cold and dark and a high risk time of year for depression. 

This year's January adjustment it hitting me hard this week. Josh went back to work yesterday. He hasn't worked since November 17th when he fell and broke his arm. We had a different routine during that time. Starting yesterday, I am readjusting to the return of normal. Later this year then most years. I am doing my normal routine but, forgetting parts of it. So, it's not as efficient as usual. I'll remember soon enough. 

It's quiet. I forgot how quiet it is. I have gotten a lot done. I miss Josh's company on my walks. But, I find I like the quiet. I also find myself putting a lot of effort into keeping depression away. It's not working. But, it's worth putting the effort in to begin with. 

Each holiday season most people talk about how they can't wait for the current year to be over. And hope the new year is better. Considering the fall we had, that isn't a high bar at all. Yet, somehow, we have promise. 

The private baseball coach we wanted for Zach agreed to take him. Zach is thriving on his basketball team this year. His mid-marking period grades are very nice to look at. Josh loves being back at work. Josh and I both got new cell phones (and Zach got my old one when he lost his). There are still a lot of things I am waiting on. I am not a patient person so this isn't going well. But, things do look promising. 

January brings promise. A promise that things will be better now that it's a new year. A promise for new surprises and experiences. A hope for the future. December requires a certain amount of looking at the past year. January requires a certain amount of thinking about what is ahead in the new year. As we do that, remember that this December we will probably say the same things as last December. At least when it comes to evaluating the year. 

When I sort things by month and season I use themes as a reference. There isn't much to January so a lot of it seems more like generic winter. I am looking at a lot of blue, silver, white and clear right now as I see my decorations. 

Penguins

Polar Bears

Eskimos

Igloos

Ice Skating (Winter Fun)

Soup

Arctic

Ice

Snow

Fireplace

Those are some of my January themes. On my daily calendar, today's theme is Soup. Ironically, I'm not a big fan of soup. But, a hot bowl of soup is comforting on a cold January day. For people who do like soup. 

Has your January been good bringing the hope that this year really will be better then last year? Has anything happened yet out of the ordinary? Or, has it been refreshingly ordinary. I don't know about you, But, I started thinking about Spring and Summer yesterday. 

I guess January is hidden. Starting with the ruminants of Christmas and ending with the shower of Valentine's hearts everywhere. There isn't a middle to January. There is a late December and early February. January only stands on it's own for one day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So, I try to make January it's own month. A month that looks different then December and February. A month that is special in it's own way.