sneezes and memories of christmas

I have a rip-snorter of a cold and have been sleeping on the couch for the last two nights and will be again tonight. Propped up on two pillows with eucalyptus oil vainly trying to clear my sinuses, mouth-breathing and no doubt snoring like a bull, I'm sure English hubby is glad to have me one floor down. Sweetpea thankfully sleeps like a log and never seems to hear the earsplitting nose-honking coming from down the hall.

I wistfully remember our New Year's Eve, when the three of us decided to camp out in the living room. Christmas tree lights still twinkling, Sweetpea sat surrounded by her fuzzy blankets and stuffies and wrote in her journal until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. English hubby and I watched Midnight in Paris on our laptop with headphones so as not to disturb her, whispered a quick happy new year at midnight, finished our movie and then drifted off to sleep ourselves. It was an evening of the kind of magic that only the Christmas holidays seem to bring.

1. new years eve, 2. my two, 3. merry christmas eve lovely people, 4. christmas card outtake

I felt in need of colour tonight to combat the blahs, even in the face of the unseasonable sunshine we've been having lately.  So I gathered mosaics of Christmas colour that I never got around to sharing - some from the weeks leading up to Christmas when I struggled as I often do with the stress and melancholy that December often brings; some from the holidays themselves where I finally relaxed once the presents were opened and we could just enjoy waking up and deciding whether it would be a get-out-and-do-something or a stay-in-our-jammies kind of day.

Embracing my inner procrastinator has its benefits.

1. peace sign, 2. framing the holidays (ttv), 3. put on my shoes,

4. holidaze, 5. ready to wrap, 6. candy

1. blue shore, 2. teal chev, 3. strand, 

4. sweet fennel?, 5. pinecone, 6. charlie brown tree,

7. mirror, 8. saucer, 9. jog