Is it just me, or does it seem every year like there is a huge build-up to Christmas and then—BAM! Suddenly you’re surrounded by bits of torn-up wrapping paper and cookie crumbs and wondering where the month of December went. That is normally true for me, but this year has been different.

For one thing, I didn’t mail out a single gift parcel to friends or family before Christmas this year. I mailed plenty of Etsy packages but no personal ones. I had plans, but somehow they didn’t get done. All the gifts we need to send are wrapped in pretty paper and tied with ribbon, we just need to get busy with the bubble wrap and packing tape. At least the lines at the post office shouldn’t be as heinous now as they would have been last week, right?

For another thing, I’ve only written about half of my Christmas cards. If you normally get a card from me and you’re wondering if you got dropped from my list this year, the answer is probably no, I just have not mailed it yet. Don’t you think it would be nice to get a card in early January when all the rest of your mail is bills?

And the baking! I’m still doing Christmas baking. Again, I had intended to get that done a couple of weeks ago, but baking isn’t much fun when you’re sick. I put it off till I felt better. Now when I mail a few boxes of goodies, the recipients will actually be able to enjoy eating them, instead of being overwhelmed with yet another plateful of cookies.

Speaking of cookies, don’t these gingerbread cookies that Annalie decorated look delicious? My dad found a kit with pre-baked cookies, decorating gel, and candy on sale for half the normal price when he and Troy went to the store a couple of days ago. He thought Annalie would like that, so he brought it home for her.

It was a big hit. We set Annalie up with the kit’s ingredients plus a few bags of cookie frosting I had stashed in the pantry. She went to town and had so much fun decorating the cookies exactly like she wanted to.

After Annalie finished decorating and washed the frosting off her hands she announced, “Now I have to inspect them!” She grabbed a little flashlight toy from a Burger King kids’ meal and shone it on each cookie for a second, saying things like, “Mmm-hm! Good good, okay, this one looks great.”

Then and only then did she ask if she could eat one. Well, after all her hard work inspecting, how could I say no? She chose the largest gingerbread man and happily chomped off his head.

Tomorrow we’re headed up to the desert for a Christmas lunch with my mom’s side of the family, which is another reason it doesn’t really feel like Christmas is over to me. I expect there will be much delicious food, talking, laughing, and possibly some swimming in a heated pool if they can get the heater to work.

How are you spending your post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s week? Anyone else spending it mailing packages and writing cards?