blooming

Either my paperwhites were slow this year, or I planted them way too late -- too late to bloom for Christmas anyway. This turned out to be a fortuitous circumstance because I was away for Christmas. They waited for me! The first one bloomed the day after we returned home (even after receiving no water for 10 days). They are resiliant little rascals.

Here's the thing about plants. I need them to last forever. And they won't. I'm sure I'm supposed to learn some sort of lesson from that, but I'm resisting the "all things must die -- everything in its own season" lesson. Also, I'm resisting the upkeep/nurturing/constant care lesson. It makes me tired.

But, for now, I'll enjoy these magnificent paperwhites.

Oh, and one more thing:

I took down all of Christmas yesterday (except for the tree, which is still waiting on Sterling to haul it up to the attic). Last year I spent a lot of time organizing the Christmas decor and painstakingly labeling the boxes. So this year, I pulled the boxes down, read the labels, and put the corresponding decoration into the corresponding box. And then...I waited until the kids were home from school and had them hoof all the boxes back up to the attic. That's why I had those kids in the first place: free labor.

As a last minute thought I decided to do something with this year's Christmas cards. Usually I vacillate. I let them sit around for another week or so, feeling guilty over throwing them away. But then I do throw them away because I'm deathly afraid of clutter.

Last night, however, while watching Modern Family, I whipped us this baby:

The good folks at eighteen25 provided the printable for the front cover, so all I had to do was print and punch some holes. I can handle that.

Initially, I printed the cover on cardstock, but it still seemed too flimsy. So I glued it to some chipboard (claimed from a soon-to-be-thrown-away cereal box). But, of course, this left me with an ugly, brown, chewed-up looking back side. So then I added some Christmas paper. Not flimsy anymore. Let me tell you.

And voila! I packed the little book away with our stockings and will bring it out next year so we can all ooh and aah and squeal about how everyone has changed so very much.

Now. Off to the grocery store. See? More with the nuturing/constant care stuff. (Still tired.)

Comments

[Annie]

Hold the press! Our "New Years" card is coming this week! It's questionable whether it really is better late than never but oh, well. :)

I love the card book idea. Adding it to my list of projects...

[rebecca ellis]

Love the paperwhites and especially the red vase. Next year plant several pots 2 to 3 weeks apart and have fresh flowers over an entire month or more.