The Annual Farewell

When January arrives, we must bid adieu to Christmas decorations for another 11 months. I'm always a little sad to put everything away, as I love Christmas decor. Even though I've sold lots of Christmas stuff at rummage sales and gave more to Goodwill when we moved up here, I still seem to have plenty. I actually have Christmas ornaments that have never been used since I moved back to Saginaw in 1992. It will be fun to unpack and use those things again in the new house. We knew we were going to need a bigger tree for the great room next year, and we found a 9 footer on sale after Christmas for 75% off! The ceiling height will accommodate an even taller tree, but decorating would have been more difficult. I'm not getting any younger, you know. Anyway, we're actually planning to have 2 Christmas trees in the new house, but I'll tell you more about that next December.

Since we've lived here in Calumet, I haven't done a lot of Christmas decorating. This house is too small for a large tree, so I've been using an inexpensive slim tree that we bought to use in Saginaw the last few years we were there. When I was decorating this year, I wasn't as enthusiastic as usual. I kept thinking about how much fun it's going to be to decorate the new house, and that led me to restrain the decor even more than I had the last 2 years. I didn't even unpack my Christmas dishes this year, and I normally use those the entire month of December. Still, I was sad to pack everything away again, so I waited until January 10th. Here's a final look.

 

On the first Monday in January, we also bid farewell to bad food. We begin our annual healthy eating plan and do our best to rid the pantry and refrigerator of all naughty food temptations. I plan our menu very carefully in December, so Steve can have one last indulgence of things he wants to eliminate from his diet for a while - like pizza, ice cream, lasagna, and his beloved "Hut Hut Burger." I called The Hut (restaurant) on Saturday, January 4, and ordered his one-pound burger and a normal-sized one for me. I added a side of fries and a side of onion rings to split. We always eat at the kitchen table, but I asked him if he wanted to eat in the living room. There was something on TV he wanted to watch (football maybe?), so he thought that was a great idea. Here he is with his TV tray (better known as a cookie sheet).

Did you see what else was on the coffee table? 
His Throwback Mountain Dew - REAL SUGAR... REAL GOOD! 
Goodbye to that, too!

No, he was not able to finish the burger in one sitting. He only ate half. He ate half of the remaining half later that evening and finished it up for a snack the next day. 

So, we've said our annual farewell to Christmas decor and our annual farewell to bad food. We'll welcome the Christmas decor back in about 11 months. Some of the bad food may see us again within in 4-6 months!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S.  You may be wondering if the ham and bean soup I made last week fits into the healthy eating plan. I only used about 3/4 lb. of ham in a huge pot of soup - no bacon - but 7 kinds of beans - mushrooms - carrots - onions, etc. Steve's favorite winter dinner is a small bowl of soup with a great salad, so I make lots of soup, and we stick with the small bowl - no seconds!