Emptiness

This corner of the living room looks lonely at the moment!  Just a few minutes ago I took the last pieces of the tree upstairs and put them in the tree box and closed the tree box!  I even added a couple of the boxes in the hall to be on top of the tree box so it will stay closed.  The curtain is closed because it is going to drop into the teens tonight.  These curtains aren't used to being closed as I leave them pulled back except in extremely cold conditions.  I have to coax them to stay closed with a clothes pin.  I plan to vacuum tomorrow and then move the love seat glider back to this spot.  Here is a picture of what is at the other end of the living room...the boxes that have all the tree ornaments in
them.

I'll lug them upstairs and get them into the closet, too.  I have quite the job ahead of me...putting back ALL the boxes...working that puzzle is quite the job.  That was always Woody's part of my Christmas decorating...putting the empty boxes back in after I got them out to decorate and then putting them back in after I repacked them with all the Christmas "stuff."  But that is a job that needs someone who
is more mobile that he is at the moment so I guess the job falls to me by default!  That job can be
done over a span of time.  I'll get the living room back to normal and then gradually when I feel like it add a box or two to the closet!  I am very glad that the "tree undecorating job" is done!

We started back to school today.  I only had the three youngest boys as the older children were still in Gatlinburg at their youth conference.  They came home this afternoon.  So Esther will join me over here tomorrow.  We had Elijah change his long time with me to today so Esther wouldn't miss hers.  I
was very pleased that with the long time away from school, that Isaac and Joseph hadn't fallen behind with their reading.  They picked right up where they left off.  I don't worry about the others as I know that they read even when they aren't having school, but the two youngest not so much.  Though, Isaac is heading into that older group now, as he has found out that reading is easier than he thought and will pick up a book just for fun.  Also during the Christmas holidays, he got reading glasses so he may find it even easier now.  All three of the boys read books with me today about volcanos.  Woody found some really good ones at the public library on Saturday.  I figure that this is a good time to
reinforce ther experience of being so close to a volcano that was erupting in the Philippines.

Woody and I have pretty much stayed inside and tried to keep warm today.  Woody did go out this evening to go to the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.  He is back now and getting warmed up after being out in the cold.  He said that it was 19° out there.  Glad I stayed inside!  I just got to thinking that I don't think that I got the mail today.

After Elijah was through with his long time,  I told Woody that I thought that I should do some baking to help warm things up in the house.  He agreed...imagine that!  I asked him if he wanted cookies or a pie.  He asked what kind of pie and when I said French Apple Cranberry, he chose that option without even asking what kind of cookies!  So I made a pie this afternoon.  He did crossword puzzles while waiting for it to be finished.  After it came out of the oven, I went upstairs to rest and read for a half hour so it could cool some before I cut it.  Then we both had a nice piece of warm pie...pretty good!  Nathan even got a sliver as he came in just at the right time.

I guess you could say that a normal routine is trying to happen around here.